The Russian steelmaker and iron ore producer Evraz Group (Evraz) has announced that its subsidiary West-Siberian Steel Works (ZapSib) has recommissioned its blast furnace (BF) No. 3, with a total capacity of 2.16 million mt of pig iron per year.
As a result of the recommissioning of BF No. 3, Zapsib's total capacity will reach 6.5 million mt of pig iron per year, while Evraz's annual steelmaking capacity from its domestic operations will reach 13.5 million mt of crude steel, down approximately two million mt or 13 percent year on year due to earlier production cuts.
Following the restart of BF No. 3, ZapSib will operate at its full capacity, thereby allowing Evraz to further increase its exports of semi-finished products (slabs and billets) to meet the demand in the Asian markets.
ZapSib's 3,000 m3 BF No. 3 was idled on October 29, 2008 with the aim of matching production with actual market demand. Since then the furnace, as well as the adjacent production units, have undergone an overhaul.