Salzgitter Group celebrates the restart of blast furnace A after relining

2024-01-03

Jan. 3, 2024 - Blast furnace A has been fired up again following complete modernization lasting just over 100 days. With the complete relining of Blast Furnace A now concluded, the Salzgitter Group has taken a key operational step towards securing its pig iron supply within the context of the incremental transformation phase towards low- CO2 steel production by 2033.

In the course of a construction phase, Blast Furnace A was completely overhauled - relined, as it is referred to in the steel industry. Among other things, the refractory lining was renewed with 3,000 tons of carbon bricks and other refractory materials. The complex process and control technology was also modernized. Just over EUR 100 million was invested in the relining and upgrading. The company Pirson Montage AG was involved as an essential partner.

As Ulrich Grethe, Chairman of the Management Board of Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, explained: "This relining provides us and our customers and partners the security we need to continue to consistently drive the transformation of steel production forward. Based on a secure basic supply of pig iron, we will complete the next steps of SALCOS® - Salzgitter LowCO2 Steelmaking."

Gerd Baresch, Managing Director Technology Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, commented as follows: "We would like to thank all of our company's employees and our partner companies for their commitment. Such an extremely complex project can only succeed thanks to the cooperative interaction of many committed experts. We have now made Blast Furnace A fit for its final production cycle."

Blast furnace A went was originally commissioned in 1977 and has been relined several times. The blast furnace has an annual capacity of around 2 million tons of pig iron.