Japan: Nippon Steel postpones resumption of blast furnace No. 3 of Nagoya works

Japan's leading steel producer, Nippon Steel, has recently announced that it will postpone the restart of its third blast furnace of Nagoya works, Tokai City, Aichi prefecture which is under renovation work since January 2022.

Earlier, the company had planned to resume its operations in June 2022, however, with continued supply chain disruptions, demand for steel products such as those for automobiles has declined in Japan as well as overseas. Thus, Nippon Steel has pushed its resumption plans and will plan the timing of restart after assessing the future supply and demand scenario.

Nippon Steel has 11 operating blast furnaces, including the Nagoya No. 3 blast furnace. For the time being, 10  blast furnaces will be operational with the postponement of the restart of the BF No.3 in Nagoya, and production will be thoroughly implemented to meet actual demand.

The blast furnace No. 3 at Nagoya works comprises 8% capacity of the whole company on the basis of the furnace volume. The renovation work is expected to be completed by end-June. The refurbishment will bring the furnace volume to 4,425 cubic meters.

The demand outlook for steel is becoming uncertain because of the rising global supply chain turmoil due to the prolonged shortage of semi-conductors which has continued since last year, along with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the lockdown in China.

In addition, Nippon Steel is not considering further production reduction measure such as banking (temporary suspension) of other blast furnaces.

Note: This article has been published in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Japan Metal Daily and SteelMint.