Iscor's Saldanha Steel mill, on South Africa's west coast, has resumed normal operations on schedule, following repairs to the mill's Conarc steelmaking furnace.

The repair program was instituted when liquid steel burned through the outer shell of the furnace on Tuesday, May 18 and damaged adjacent cabling and equipment. Production was idled as a result.

Iscor's Chief Operating Officer, Martin van Wijngaarden said the plant completed its first day of full production on Sunday, June 13, since production halted three weeks ago. "We are delighted to have the plant operating at full capacity soon after the completion of the repairs, which augurs well for continued stable operating conditions at the mill," said Van Wijngaarden.

He said while the specific cause of the incident is still being determined, early indications are that it was not due to negligence, but to normal operational risk. "At this stage, we can confirm that a water leak between the Conarc's refractory lining — the inner surface lining of the vessel — and the Conarc shell caused damage to the refractory lining, resulting in liquid steel burning through the outer shell of the furnace."

He confirmed that the mill lost some 62,000 tonnes of production and the cost to Iscor is estimated at R115 million. While Iscor is insured for such incidents, the first US$7.5 million (approximately R50 million) of the loss is for Iscor's account. The net recovery is therefore likely to be some R65 million.

Van Wijngaarden said it was unlikely that the mill could make up for the lost production. "We have taken steps to minimize the effect of delivery delays to customers through rescheduling activities by moving priority orders between Iscor's Vanderbijlpark plant and Saldanha Steel."

A planned maintenance shutdown of one-week, scheduled for June, was brought forward and incorporated into the Conarc repair program to avert the need for another shutdown at Saldanha and minimize the impact of the incident.

The company confirmed that the incident on the Conarc was unrelated to the technical concerns on the Corex refractories, experienced at Saldanha Steel during its ramp-up to full production capacity.