Japan-based Nippon Steel Corporation has announced that it has decided to postpone the restart of the blast furnace No. 3 at its Nagoya Works amid weak steel demand.
Previously, the company had planned to resume its operations at the blast furnace in June this year, following renovation works costing JPY 49 billion ($369.39 million) which started at the end of January. However, the war in Ukraine and the lockdown in China have caused problems in the supply chain to continue, resulting in a decline in steel demand.
According to the company’s statement, global steel demand is expected to move upwards in the long term amid economic growth and the recovery from the pandemic in emerging countries.