It is reported that Sumitomo Metal has decided to shut down the No.4 blast furnace at Wakayama steel plant on July 11th which the inside capacity is 2,700 cubic meters.

On the other hand, the No 1 blast furnace will be restarted with full capacity on July 17th, which has 3,700 cubic meters of inside capacity.

It is expected that the annual output of crude steel of Sumitomo Metal will be increased from 4.2 million tonnes to 4.5 million tonnes after the launch of No 1 blast furnace.