The Ukrainian steelmaker Zaporizhstal has temporarily stopped production operations at its blast furnace shop after a fire occurred at the shop on Sunday, September 6.
According to Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations, a leak of metal occurred due to the destruction of the taphole at Zaporizhstal's blast furnace (BF) No.3, and was followed by a burning of melting products (coke) over an area of 65 square meters. No casualties have been reported.
Reconstruction and repair works are currently being carried out at the plant's BF shop, while the date of the recommissioning of the BF No.3 has not been disclosed.
Before the accident, three BFs were operating at Zaporizhstal's BF shop, with the BF No. 3's annual production capacity amounting to about one million mt.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in the first seven months of 2009, Zaporizhstal registered a 23.4 percent decrease in its finished steel production and a 25.7 percent decline in its crude steel production year on year, to 1.82 million mt and 2.17 million mt respectively. In the same period, the plant's pig iron production decreased by 24 percent year on year to 1.82 million.