Nippon Steel ends steelmaking in Kura, western Japan

Nippon Steel, Japan’s largest integrated mill, will not produce crude steel at Kure area of Setouchi Works in western Japan anymore with the second and the also the last blast furnace shut down on September 29 as planned as part of the corporate restructuring, a company official confirmed on Wednesday.

The latest shutdown was about the No.1 blast furnace with an inner volume of 2,650 cu m, and all the affiliated facilities including converters and continuous casters were stopped on the same day, and this was followed the closure of the No.2 blast furnace at 2,080 cu m on February