Dunaferr idles sole operational blast furnace

Hungarian steelmaker Dunaferr had to temporarily hot idle its second and only operational blast furnace on 16 September because of a shortage of coke.

It hopes to restart the 600,000 t/yr blast furnace by the end of September, if it can secure sufficient funding to pay for the raw materials.

The company has one month of slab stock so is able to fulfil its contractual operations if the furnace restarts as expected. It will also ramp up rolling activities to try and create cash.

Dunaferr had already idled a 550,000 t/yr furnace in response to high energy costs and low raw material supplies, so it is now not producing any pig iron.

The company has been trying to get state intervention to help with its liquidity crisis, according to local press reports.

By Colin Richardson