Zaporizhstal eyes output increase with blast furnace restart

Ukrainian flat steel producer Zaporizhstal, partially owned by Metinvest, is taking blast furnace No.2 out of forced hot preservation. It has been idle since March 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The firm will thereby return to operation with three blast furnaces, Kallanish notes. Last April, blast furnaces No.3 and No.4 were put back into operation.

BF2 is currently being blown in and will reach its planned production capacity in the first ten days of April. With three blast furnaces, the productivity of Zaporizhstal’s blast furnace shop will increase to 8,000 tonnes/day of pig iron, the enterprise claims.

According to the company, during the period of forced hot conservation of BF2, specialists from the blast furnace shop and engineering services of Zaporizhstal carried out a comprehensive study, maintenance and repair of the main components of the unit.

In particular, mechanical and electrical equipment, as well as the furnace air heaters were revamped, and a technical inspection and testing of gas cleaning equipment was carried out.

“The launch of the blast furnace was preceded by thorough work to ensure production with sufficient volumes of raw materials,” says Zaporizhstal general director Roman Slobodyanyuk. “Today, we have a solution that will allow us to increase production, and at the same time increase contributions to state budgets and attract foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine’s economy.”

In January-February, the plant produced 209,200t of steel, down by 67.4% on-year, and pig iron output was down 61.5% to 291,600t (see Kallanish passim). Rolled steel production decreased by 65.3% to 174,200t.

Zaporizhstal operated at 50% of its capacity in 2022 due to logistical restrictions amid the war.

Last year, it launched the production of eight new types of cold rolled coil and hot rolled coil, which were previously produced at Metinvest’s destroyed Mariupol enterprises – Azovstal and Ilyich Steelworks.

Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria