Blast furnaces at Jiangxi Pinggang to resume after month-long closure

SHANGHAI, Sep 6 (SMM) – Jiangxi Pinggang Industrial Holdings in Jiangxi province will resume production of three of its seven blast furnaces on Friday September 7, after they were suspended for nearly a month.

SMM had expected the suspension to be lifted at the end of August. The remaining furnaces are likely to recover gradually after September 7, SMM learned.

Production of all seven furnaces has halted since August 12, after two blast furnaces of 450m³ and another of 1080m³ were suspended that day when provincial environmental authorities visited the city on August 6.

The suspension is estimated to have lowered output of crude steel by 17,000 mt per day.