Second blast furnace restarted at Smederevo steel mill

SMEDEREVO - The second blast furnace at the Smederevo steel mill has been restarted, with both furnaces now in operation and the first quantities of steel expected to start flowing in two days, says manager Peter Kamaras.

The process of slowly reigniting the second blast furnace began late last month, the Cowper stoves were heated and the furnace was fired up at 5 am Wednesday, Kamaras told Tanjug.

The part of the work that we wanted to do quickly is done - one of the four Cowper stoves has not been overhauled yet as that requires another EUR 5 million, so we put that aside because we can work perfectly with three Cowpers, he said.

China's He Steel Group purchased the Smederevo steel mill for EUR 46 million last month.

He Steel Group Chairman Yu Yong confirmed recently that the company will complete its takeover of the Serbian steel mill by the...