Japan Steel Blast Furnace 2 quiescent reactors ahead of schedule, production cuts to record high Corona effect May 8 15:23
Nippon Steel, which is the largest steel company, announced that it would shut down two blast furnaces at its steelworks in Hokkaido and Fukuoka, which had already been decided to shut down, because demand for steel products has decreased due to the spread of the new coronavirus. Combined with another three blast furnaces that are temporarily suspended, it will be the largest reduction in production over the time of the Lehman shock.
Nippon Steel has one blast furnace at the Muroran Works in Hokkaido, which is scheduled to be shut down by the end of March next year, and one blast furnace at the Yawata District of the Kyushu Works in Fukuoka Prefecture, which was scheduled to be shut down at the end of September. It announced that it will take a break from the beginning of the month ahead of schedule. It means that the total production of the two plants will be reduced by 7% of the production capacity.
As the demand for steel products for automobiles has decreased significantly due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, Nippon Steel has already decided to suspend the operation of three blast furnaces at its steel plants in Ibaraki, Wakayama and Chiba. This time, the combined production of the two blast furnaces that are shut down ahead of time has resulted in the largest reduction in production over the time of the Lehman shock, and the impact of the spread of infection is becoming more serious.