Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine has announced that in early September it will restart the small blast furnace in Linz which has been temporarily shut down since March, following the slump in demand caused by the coronavirus. The gradual recovery in demand has led to an increased need for high-quality steel grades, making this step possible.
Together with the two other blast furnaces at the site, the restart of the small blast furnace brings steel production back up to almost normal levels, after capacity was decreased following the coronavirus.
Voestalpine produces high-quality steel at two sites. The Voestalpine Steel Division produces for all premium automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, as well as for the European white goods, mechanical engineering, and energy industries, and operates one large and two small blast furnaces at the site in Linz, which together have an annual pig iron production capacity of around five million mt. Another two blast furnaces are located at the headquarters of the Metal Engineering Division, in Donawitz, Styria, and produce a total of up to 1.5 million mt of pig iron each year. One of the two blast furnaces in Donawitz is scheduled for interim repairs from June to October, and will only be restarted when customer demand requires.
