Mittal Finishes Repair Work on Furnace, Plant

Posted to the web 9 July 2008 Johannesburg ARCELORMITTAL SA said yesterday it had completed the R300m reline of its Newcastle Works blast furnace and sinter plant. The work was completed ahead of schedule and within budget. Mittal spokesman Tami Didiza said Mittal forfeited 212000 tons of liquid steel output during the time the reline work was under way. However, the loss had been budgeted for, Didiza said. Work on the reline started in mid-May and the steel plant, certain mills and the water treatment plant were also refurbished during the reline, the company said. While no additional capacity was created, an increase in tonnage was expected owing to the removal of limiting factors such as hearth hot spots and shell cracks. Mittal said it aimed to produce 5132 tons of output a day by the fourth quarter of this year, up from... [read full story]