Nikkei reported that JFE Steel Corp said on last Thursday that it will halt operations at the smallest of four blast furnaces at its Hiroshima Prefecture steelworks for an indefinite period.

Another blast furnace there is slated to go back into service on May 14, having undergone a roughly 30% capacity upgrade.

The JFE Holdings Inc. unit will have eight blast furnaces in operation after these steps are taken. Its overall crude steel output capacity is expected to remain unchanged at 33 million tonnes a year.

(Sourced from The Nikkei)