Brazilan steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) resumed operations on the No. 2 blast furnace (BF) at its Presidente Vargas mill in Volta Redonda, which has been shut since late May.
The unit has a capacity of 1.5mn mt per year. The restart aims at adapting steel output to improving market demand, the company said in statement on Nov 19. CSN’s BF No. 2 is one of the 13 BFs that were shutdown in Brazil in April-May as steel demand declined due to COVID-19 related restrictions.
The company’s total steel sales in Q3 2020 rose by 19pc to 1.27mn mt, from 1.07mn mt in Q3 2019, due to recovery in the domestic market after the pandemic, and better consumption of exported galvanized products.
Brazilian crude steel production rose by 7.5pc to 2.6mn mt in September this year on an annual basis.