BNamericas reported that Chilean integrated iron and steel group CAP on July 1st 2009 had restarted a blast furnace at its Huachipato plant in region VIII after having shut the furnace down on November 5th 2008 for maintenance due to low demand.

With the addition of the furnace, Huachipato has returned to full capacity after running at slightly more than 50% since it was stopped. CAP had not previously reported publicly the restart of the furnace.

As for the company's plans for Huachipato's production in the remainder of the year, the company said that the evolution of domestic demand and inventory levels will determine the future operational regime of our installations.

CAP sold 1.16 million tonnes of steel products in 2008, down by 4.3% YoY. It also sold 7.25 million tonnes of iron ore in 2008, down by 13.4% YoY and made USD 293 million in profits.

(Sourced from www.bnamericas.com)