Usiminas steel plant halted by blast: Update

Adds capacity and market details

Brazilian steelmaking giant Usiminas has suspended operations at its Ipatinga plant following a midday gas tank explosion.

Usiminas said it is still investigating what caused the blast forced the company to evacuate the plant, which is located in the state of Minas Gerais.

The explosion resulted in an undisclosed number of injuries, but no fatalities.

"As a precautionary measure, the company has decided to stop, in an emergency and temporary manner, the blast furnaces of the Ipatinga plant," Usiminas said.

The Ipatinga plant, Usiminas' second largest in Brazil, has a nameplate capacity of 5mn t/yr of slab, 1mn t/yr of heavy plate, 3.6mn t/yr of hot-rolled coil, 2.5mn t/yr of cold-rolled coil and 1.4mn t/yr of galvanized steel.

The plant restarted blast furnace 1 in April, increasing its pig iron production capacity by 2,000 t/d and boosting steel output by 600,000 t/yr of slab.

A prolonged outage could lead to tightness in the Brazilian pig iron market, since most of Ipatinga's production is consumed domestically.

The company said the R$80mn ($20.7mn) project was undertaken in response to signs of recovery in the steel market.