September 28, 2007 -- Germany's ThyssenKrupp is to start up a new blast furnace in Duisburg, a Ruhr city, by the end of this year, a spokesman for the big steelmaker told Platts Friday. The 2 million mt/year production unit is expected to be completed this year so that full output will be reached in spring 2008, he added.
The ThyssenKrupp spokesman noted the Eur200 million (US$280 million) unit was being constructed as a replacement of its No. 4 blast furnace, which was built in 1963.
The BF project is being handled by a several construction companies, but the core of the unit--including the furnace itself and the cooling system--is being supplied by Paul Wurth, Luxembourg.
The ThyssenKrupp spokesman explained that global demand for steel has picked up dramatically with emerging countries like China and India having developed an unprecedented hunger for the material. With this in mind, ThyssenKrupp Steel is investing about Eur6 billion globally in steel capacity expansion. ThyssenKrupp has five business segments: steel, stainless, technologies, elevator and services.
Soure: Platts Commodity News
