NLMK announces today that it has restarted blast furnace #4 after a complete overhaul. The blast furnace of a total capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per year was idled in November 2008.

As part of the five-month overhaul of the 2000m3 unit, refractory was replaced, charging equipment and air heaters were renovated, the furnace shell was partially changed and cast houses repaired. The overhaul took place over five months at cost of RUR 180 million.

In February, NLMK also recommissioned blast furnace #3 with a total capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per year, and blast furnace #2 with a capacity of 770,000 tonnes per year.

Currently, NLMK’s main production site is running all five blast furnaces. Steel production in Lipetsk in 2009 is expected to reach 8.3 million tonnes.