ArcelorMittal confirms to Kallanish that the start-up of the first new coke battery in Gijón is planned for 12 January. The activity will follow the restart of its blast furnace number 2 on the previous day (see related article), the steelmaker says.
The second battery in Gijón is planned to begin production by the end of April 2020. The facility should be operating at full capacity in June.
The consumption of external coke would be reduced when battery no.1 reaches the expected production level. The steelmaker currently imports coke as a temporary solution mainly from ArcelorMittal Poland’s Zaklady Koksownicze Zdzieszowice (ZKZ) plant, ArcelorMittal adds.