Ukrainian steel producer Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol has announced that it intends to complete the reconstruction of its blast furnace No 5 in November of the current year.
As a result of the reconstruction, the volume of the BF No 5 will increase from the current 2,300 cubic meters to 2,500 cubic meters with the producer again planning to achieve an output of 15,000 tonnes of pig iron per day. As of July 30th this year, the daily output of Ilyich blast furnace shop amounted to 9,689 tonnes.
Initially Ilyich had been planning to halt its BF No 5 for reconstruction in 2009. However, due to the crisis in the steel industry the producer was forced to idle the furnace and to commence reconstruction work in November 2008. The restart of the BF No 5 had originally been planned for March 2010. (SteelOrbis)