<article><p class="lead">Indian steelmaker JSW Steel's 950,000t/yr JSW Ispat Special Products Limited (JISPL) has brought forward the planned shutdown of its blast furnace at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh.</p><p>The company is also preponing the work of its sinter plant and steel melt shop (SMS) and two furnaces of the ferro alloys and SMS at the plant for regular annual maintenance for 25 days, it said, which was effective as of Tuesday.</p><p>JISPL's Raigarh plant is the first steelmaking facility to prepone maintenance as the imposition of the Indian government's 15pc steel export duty touches the one-month mark.</p><p>JSW Steel announced the merger of JISPL with the company last month and said it plans to expand the capacity to 1.2mn t/yr by the third quarter of this year. JISPL is a special steel products manufacturer catering to the seamless pipe, automobile and high-speed rail industries.</p><p>Earlier this month, state-controlled <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2338767">iron ore pellet producer KIOCL temporarily shut</a> its 3.5mn t/yr pellet plant in Mangalore owing to the steep export duties.</p><p class="bylines">By Sumita Layek</p></article>
