Sumitomo’s Kashima Steelworks restarts second BF after earthquake

Japanese steelmaker Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd (Sumitomo Metals) has announced that on March 26 its subsidiary Kashima Steelworks restarted its blast furnace (BF) No. 1 (of 5,370 cubic meters internal volume).  Thus, Sumitomo Metals has succeeded in restarting and operating both BFs at Kashima, the operations of which were suspended when Japan was hit by a massive earthquake on March 11.
 
Accordingly, at Kashima's plate mill, all the finishing lines, such as the shearing and inspection lines (except the rolling line) have resumed their operations. This means that the plate mill can begin shipping products to customers. Sumitomo Metals plans to restart the coke ovens to resume the coke gas balance and thereby restart the hot strip and plate rolling mills.
 
"We at Sumitomo Metals are working towards the full recovery of Kashima Steelworks so that it can play a role in the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken communities," reads the company's statement.
 
On March 24, the first shipment from Kashima Steelworks to overseas customers left Kashima Port.
 
In addition, Sumitomo Metals said that its Kashima Thermal Power Station has also reached 100 percent operational output.