Japanese steelmaker JFE Steel Corp. is planning to upgrade its blast furnace (BF) No. 3 in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, located in western Japan, at a cost of about JPY 30 billion (around $314 million). The BF No. 3 has been idle since January 2009 due to weak demand.
Accordingly, the upgrade will boost the capacity of the BF No. 3 at Kurashiki by 16 percent to 5,055 m3.
The improved BF No. 3 will meet higher demand without sharply increasing utilization levels.
JFE Steel will carry out repairs and renovations between the coming month of October and April next year. The steelmaker has not yet decided when to bring the furnace back to production.
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