JFE Steel Resumes Operating No. 6 Blast Furnace at East Japan Works (Chiba)

2023-02-01

Feb. 1, 2023 - JFE Steel Corporation announced on January 16 that it has finished revamping the No. 6 blast furnace at the company’s East Japan Works (Chiba) and blew-in the facility on January 13. The revamping process began last September and was carried out at cost of about 43 billion yen. Furnace volume remains unchanged at 5,153 m3.

The furnace is now in its third campaign (operating cycle), following previous campaigns that began in June 1977 and May 1998.

The revamping has helped to stabilize furnace operation by adopting data-science technology to improve the accuracy of both the positioning of material charging and controlling furnace heat. In addition, adjacent equipment has been updated to improve workability and extend the life of the furnace body.

Going forward, JFE Steel will continue to monitor trends in steel demand to ensure that its production operations remain capable of swiftly and flexibly meeting evolving demands.