12 Apr 2022 14:01

ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih restarts No. 6 blast furnace, initial 1,000 tonnes of pig iron per day expected

KYIV. April 12 (Interfax-Ukraine) - The ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih steel works in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region restarted its No. 6 blast furnace on Tuesday.

"The blowing-in process at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih's No.6 blast furnace took place today after metallurgical production had been stopped. We expect 1,000 tonnes of pig iron today. Ramp-up - five or six days. Coking and mining divisions are increasing volumes," Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said on social media.

Mauro Longobardo, the plant's general director, said on April 11 that production was restarting. The No. 6 blast furnace will be followed by the No.8 furnace, which ought to be started on May 2.

The plant also plans to restart divisions that were stopped for employee safety reasons. The mining division is increasing output. "We plan to achieve full capacity at the mining department before the end of April," Longobardo said.

He said the ArcelorMittal corporation was providing ever more support to the Ukraine steel works.

PJSC ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih is Ukraine's largest steel producer. It specializes in long products, in particular rebar and wire rod. ArcelorMittal owns this and a number of small companies, in particular, PJSC ArcelorMittal Beryslav.