Russia’s Kosaya Gora Iron Works to revise output plans

Russia's Kosaya Gora Iron Works has announced that the switch of its blast furnace No. 2 to ferromanganese production, planned for early April, may be postponed due to the current conjuncture in the Russian domestic iron ore and pig iron markets.
 
"Kosaya Gora Iron Works is considering various options for production plans for April. The final decision will depend on further trends in the market for raw materials - iron ore, coal and coke," said the company in its statement.
 
The sharp drop in prices for iron ore in the spot market, which began in mid-March this year due to weak demand for steel, was exacerbated by natural disasters in Japan, where a huge earthquake and tsunami paralyzed half of the country's steel industry and disrupted industrial operations.
 
Steelmaking facilities in Japan, one of the largest steel producing countries in the world, were directly affected by the earthquake, which also affected operations at some steel consuming industries. Thus, temporary shutdowns of operations were announced by some automakers, such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki and Mitsubishi, as well as by companies from the electrical household appliances industry, such as Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu. According to analysts, their recovery may take at least six months.