Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Sider??rgica Nacional (CSN) will resume operations at its No3 blast furnace later this week, after a maintenance outage lasting more than three months.
The company told Fastmarkets about the restart late on Tuesday October 22 and the resumption in output will add steelmaking capacity to the country's already-flat steel market. Prices are already under pressure from excess supply and this has led to mills offering discounts to secure orders, sources said.CSN started maintenance works on the equipment at its Usina Presidente Vargas (UPV) facility, in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro, on June 29.In the original schedule, CSN anticipated a 66-day stoppage, but the resumption of the blast furnace was delayed after unexpected technical issues arose during the shutdown process.The company had to buy third-party slab to compensate for the output loss, according to market participants.The...