Severstal, one of the key steel-producing groups in Russia, has announced the launch of hot testing of blast furnace (BF) No. 3 at its subsidiary Cherepovets Steel Mill. With the new facility, the designed capacity of which is around 3 million mt of pig iron per year, Severstal’s total pig iron capacity will reach 12.2 million mt. The company is expected to increase the pig iron usage in oxygen converters and EAFs, while the excess volumes may be sold to the free market, as SteelOrbis has reported earlier.
"A new blast furnace at the Cherepovets steel mill has been our greatest investment project of the decade, with a total investment of over RUB 24 billion. In today’s volatile market, we are reliant on our own raw materials base. The combination of advanced engineering solutions used at blast furnace No. 3 will allow a varied composition of raw materials loaded into the furnace, providing additional flexibility. Ultimately, this will help strengthen our cost leadership for liquid steel and increase our overall competitiveness,” Severstal CEO Alexander Shevelev commented.