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Ruukki Completes Blast Furnace Upgrade at Raahe, Schedules No. 2 for 2011

06/14/2010 - Ruukki successfully completes modernization of Blast Furnace 1 at the Raahe Steel Works, and has scheduled Blast Furnace 2 for a two-month modernization around midsummer 2011. Ruukki will eliminate the use of sinter for ironmaking once the second upgrade has been completed.

Ruukki has successfully completed modernization of Blast Furnace 1 at the Raahe Steel Works in Finland. The upgraded blast furnace is scheduled to reach its target capacity rate during June.

 
Blast Furnace 1 at the Raahe Works came on stream in 1964 and was last overhauled in 1995.
 
Blast Furnace 2 came on stream in 1975 and was last overhauled in 1996.
"Modernization will enable us to safeguard cost-effective steel production in the future," said Ruukki Metals President Olavi Huhtala. “Blast Furnace 1 was restarted to schedule after modernization. It is crucial for us to meet customer deliveries without disruption also during blast furnace modernization.”
 
Ruukki says it will shut down Blast Furnace 2 around midsummer 2011 for a modernization that is expected to take around two months. The company plans to increase slab stockpiles prior to shutting down the blast furnace to safeguard customer deliveries during the modernization. Normal maintenance downturns will take place at the works in Raahe and Hämeenlinna while the blat furnace modernization is underway.
 
The blast furnace modernization incorporates a number of environmental investments that will considerably reduce both environmental impact and fuel consumption at the works. The upgrade will also allow Ruukki to switch over to 100% iron pellet charge, eliminating the need for sinter in the iron-making process and facilitating shut-down of the facility’s sinter plant by the end of 2011.
 
Ruukki is estimating a total investment around EUR 220 million for modernization of the blast furnaces and changing over the feedstock base, plus additional environmental investments of some EUR 60 million. EUR 46 million of the total investment was made in 2009, while around EUR 125 million is expected to be scheduled for 2010 and EUR 110 million for 2011.
 
Rautaruukki supplies metal-based components, systems and integrated systems to the construction and engineering industries. The company employs 11,500 people with operations in 27 countries, and generated net sales totaling EUR 2.0 billion in 2009. The Corporation uses the marketing name Ruukki.