BlueScope to Defer Port Kembla Blast Furnace Restart
05/28/2009 - BlueScope Steel confirms that it will defer the restart of the newly relined No. 5 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla.
BlueScope Steel recently confirmed that it will defer the restart of No. 5 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla.
The No. 5 Blast Furnace, which had been producing approximately 2.6 million tonnes of hot metal per year, was originally scheduled to be restarted in mid-June following completion of the current reline, which the company said is ‘on schedule and on budget’. The capital cost for the reline is estimated at $372 million, including allowance of approximately $20 million for costs associated with restarting the furnace.
In a recent trading update, the company said it will now defer the restart ‘until market conditions improve’, with no decision to restart the Furnace expected prior to August 17, 2009, when the company announces its FY 2009 Annual Results. The company noted that its decision was consistent with its current its focus on optimizing production to meet demand and target inventory levels.
In the meantime, the company says it will complete the final stages of the reline project, apart from commissioning. Once the furnace is restarted, it will take 4 to 6 weeks to reach normal operating conditions.
In conjunction with the reline of Blast Furnace No. 5, the company was also undertaking a sinter plant upgrade project, which will help to facilitate an increase in sinter capacity from 5.5 to 6.6 million tonnes/year. Following the sinter plant upgrade, the company will be able (at full capacity) to alter its iron ore product mix by reducing the pellet input by 1 million tonnes/year, with fines purchases increasing by an equivalent amount. The company said it has rescheduled work on this project to align more closely with the blast furnace reline.
