BlueScope Steel Provides Update on Port Kembla Steelworks Blast Furnace Reline

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): BlueScope Steel announced that it is currently considering options for the future configurations of the Port Kembla Steelworks, as soon as the blast furnace No.5 reports end to its current operating campaign by late-2021. The proposed furnace reline will focus on emerging green technologies for steelmaking.

According to company press release, the business plans to continue operating the furnace as long as it is efficient and safe to operate. However, an alternate source of iron may be required from 2026 onwards, in order to ensure supply of raw materials for the critical iron-making process.

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The company considers blast furnace reline as the most technically feasible and economically viable solution for steelmaking in the country. The process will evaluate measures to reduce carbon emissions intensity of iron and steelmaking. The intention is quite evident from the appointment of Gretta Stephens as the company’s Chief Executive for Climate Change. BlueScope is flexible to adopt new technologies in the medium to longer term, as and when they are commercially available.

The company’s initial focus will be on relining the currently mothballed Blast Furnace No.6., for which the scope, cost and timing are being developed. A pre-feasibility assessment has already commenced, the press release said.