For the first time since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zaporizhstal, a Metinvest Group joint venture, is taking blast furnace No. 2 out of forced hot preservation. Zaporizhstal’s blast furnace shop will now operate with three blast furnaces.

“Blast furnace No. 2 has been in hot preservation mode since last March. The launch of the blast furnace was preceded by thorough work to ensure sufficient volumes of raw materials are available for production. Today, we have a solution that will allow us to increase production, while at the same time boosting contributions to the state budget and bringing foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine’s economy,” said Roman Slobodyaniuk, General Director of Zaporizhstal.

In April 2022, after a period of hot preservation of its production facilities, Zaporizhstal put blast furnaces No. 3 and No. 4, back into operation. During the period of forced hot preservation of blast furnace No. 2, Zaporizhstal’s experts from the blast furnace shop and engineering services carried out the comprehensive investigation, maintenance and repair of the main units of the blast furnace. In particular, a major refurbishment of the mechanical and electrical equipment of the blast furnace and its air heaters was carried out, along with the technical inspection and testing of the gas cleaning equipment of the blast furnace to ensure the reliability of the unit's operation in accordance with environmental legislation.

Blast furnace No. 2 is now being inflated. The blast furnace is expected to reach its planned production capacity in the first part of April. The complex of three blast furnaces will increase the daily productivity of Zaporizhstal’s blast furnace shop to more than 8,000 tonnes of cast iron.

We note that blast furnace No. 2 was taken out for hot conservation last March during the forced shutdown of the plant due to the intensification of military activity in the region.