Salzgitter Flachstahl's main blast furnace will be shut down

German steelmaker Salzgitter said Aug. 16 that the downtime of the main blast furnace at its Salzgitter Flachstahl flat steel plant will last 100 days, with the mill's main furnace expected to be operational again sometime in November/December.

Flachstahl in Salzgitter, Lower Saxony, earlier this month already suspended Block A, one of its three BFs. The furnace, one of the oldest and largest furnaces in the Salzgitter Flachstahl plant, was commissioned in 1977 and has an annual capacity of 2 million tons of pig iron per year.

Opening up the smelter - when the remaining pig iron was drained from the blast furnace - was the first step in a renovation project in which Salzgitter is investing more than 100 million euros ($110 million).

The 100-day overhaul will upgrade the furnace's refractory lining and upgrade process and control technology.

According to Salzgitter, the supply of raw materials to the company's internal refineries and subsidiaries during Blast Furnace A's downtime was ensured by a good stock of slabs.

The steelmaker said it is taking the approach of investing in existing operations while building a new manufacturing process, known as Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking or SALCOS. The company is planning a phased transition to low-CO2 steel production by 2033, it said in a statement dated August 16.

“We are phasing out the blast furnace and have already started installing new units such as direct reduction plants and electric arc furnaces,” said Gerd Baresch, managing director of technology at Salzgitter Flachstahl, adding that the company plans to decommission one of its blast furnaces by 2026.