JFE Steel Announced Blast Furnace Restart at Fukuyama Steel Works

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Japanese integrated steelmaker JFE Steel announced restart of blast furnace No.4 at its Fukuyama steel works, after a temporary shutdown following sharp dip in demand owing to Covid-19 slowdown. The restart follows pickup in steel demand, especially from the manufacturing sector.

According to company press release, the blast furnace restart comes a month ahead of the originally planned resumption in late-October this year. The blowing-in of the furnace was held by end-August. Also, the company has decided to bring forward the refurbishment work of its Kurashiki blast furnace, originally planned for 2021.

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Meantime, the resumption of the blast furnace is unlikely to have any impact on its six-month crude steel output guidance from October this year to March 2021 of 12 million tonnes. The full fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021) output is expected to witness sharp decline by almost 20% to total around 22 million tonnes.

The strong rebound in car production in the country, has led to boosted demand for steel. However, the construction sector continues to struggle, mainly on account of ongoing delays and cancellation of building development projects.

Another major steelmaker, Nippon Steel, too announced plans to restart at least one out of the six blast furnaces shut during the month of July this year.