Brazilian flats steelmaker Usiminas said it plans to resume its No. 2 Ipatinga blast furnace on Monday, June 14. The blast furnace is located at the company’s Ipatinga mill, located in the city of same name in Minas Gerais state.
The equipment has a 55,000 mt/month pig iron capacity and a 600,000 mt/year steel capacity, and the company said that the restart will allow it to resume crude steel output at full capacity, which will help it meet domestic demand for steel products.
The blast furnace has been idled for 14 months. Usiminas said it invested BRL 67 million ($13.1 million) to resume the equipment.