Salzgitter readies ‘last ever’ blast furnace reline

Salzgitter will be undertaking a reline of its blast furnace A this summer, while simultaneously re-activating the smaller blast furnace C, which has been idle since 2019.

The German steelmaker decided on the three-digit-million-euro investment for the reline at its strip steel unit Salzgitter Flachstahl last year, Kallanish learned during a call with analysts on Monday. The measure comes on the eve of the company’s long-term transition towards low-emission technology, which will eventually lead to the abolishment of blast furnaces in favour of direct reduced iron plants and electric arc furnaces. Consequently, “this will be the last relining we will ever undertake,” chief executive Gunnar Groebler stated during the call.

The maintenance will also mean the reactivation of blast furnace C, which was idled in 2019 during a phase of low demand and then later under discussion for a restart in 2021 and 2022, which never came about. Asked by analysts if BF C will remain online once the reline of BF A has been completed, presumably by September, Groebler said he could not tell yet. “We are restarting BF C in May. Once BF A is operational again, we will see if we will keep BF C active, but the market is not visible that far ahead,” he commented.

As another measure to keep volumes stable during the months of maintenance, the company has been pre-producing slab since autumn and storing them at the mill. In addition, it can bank on slab from Hüttenwerke Krupp-Mannesmann (HKM), the Duisburg mill it owns together with thyssenkrupp Steel and Vallourec.

Christian Koehl Germany