Severstal Cherepovets the main steel producing facility of Severstal Russian Steel has announced that it is re commissioning its blast furnace No 1 with a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per year.

Severstal Cherepovets’ BF No. 1 was idled in December 2008 due to the decrease in demand for steel products. During the stoppage period the blast furnace underwent an overhaul, including the repair of its main equipment.

The production volume of Severstal Cherepovets’ BF No 1 before the stoppage amounted to about 13% of the plant’s total hot metal output.

With the restart of its BF No 1, Severstal Cherepovets will have three of its four BFs in operation, while its pig iron output will amount to 7.85 million tonnes to 7.90 million tonnes per year. Severstal Cherepovets’ BF No 3 is currently stopped for reconstruction.

Mr Anatoly Kruchinin CEO of Severstal Russian Steel said “The re commissioning of BF No 1 is a part of the anti crisis program implemented at the plant, directed towards the decrease of production costs. The restart of the unit will allow Severstal Cherepovets to reduce its pig iron production costs, and will enable it to select the optimal ratio of pig iron and scrap in charge for the converters. This, according to our estimations, will lead to our target of lowering the converter steel costs.”