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Sumitomo Metals Restarts Plate Mill Rolling Operation

04/11/2011 - Sumitomo Metals restarted its Kashima Steelworks Plate Mill on April 5.

Sumitomo Metals restarted its Kashima Steelworks Plate Mill on April 5. Operations had been halted following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
 
The restart of upstream processes in late March enabled the company to restart the hot rolling operation, which depends upon the by-product gas from processes such as blast furnaces and coke ovens as fuel for the mill’s re-heating furnace.
 
Kashima, an integrated steelworks, had restarted production of pig iron at the blast furnace, crude steel at the steelmaking plant, and finishing products through the hot rolling operation. Other hot rolling mills at Kashima Steelworks, namely the hot strip mill and large shape mill, are also scheduled to restart hot rolling operations in the near future.
 
Sumikin Recycling Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Industries, restarted operations on March 23 following the earthquake. Sumikin Recycling processes the shredder dust that is generated after the scrap steel from shredded cars is recovered. The company recycles the copper and other useful materials that are contained in the dust, and also supplies the byproduct gas generated in the recycling process to the steelworks. As a result of the earthquake, while dust-processing capacity nationwide has fallen, the company will recycle the non-combustible materials that will be generated from the processing of the large amounts of debris left in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.

At Chuo Denki Kogyo Co., Ltd., a member of the SMI Group that is adjacent to Kashima Steelworks, ash is being processed from incinerated waste by heating it to a high temperature to melt it. This ash melting operation is also a way for recycling waste, and thus Sumitomo Metals Group will contribute to Japan's recovery from the earthquake disaster.