ArcelorMittal Brazil to restart Tubarao BF2

Blast Furnace number 2 at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's Tubarao plant in Brazil's Espiritu Santo state will be blown in on 26 July, the company confirmed.

The blast furnace has a 1.2mn t/yr capacity and production will be sold to the export market. The facility produces and exports coils of various qualities and is one of the largest slab producers in the world, with a full capacity of 7.5mn t/yr.

The furnace was taken off line at the end of 2019 for a revamp but remained closed throughout the first half of 2020 because of Covid-19 disruptions in the international steel markets.

Demand from China for semi-finished steel has been ramping up this year and Brazilian mills have taken advantage of this to export slab given the weak domestic market. An offer for Brazil-origin slab was heard into east China at $390/t cfr this week.

Tubarao's blast furnace number 1 is operational, with a production capacity of 3.5mn t/yr, while blast furnace number 3 was also taken off line earlier this year and remains out of operations.

Brazilian exports dropped by 57pc in April and May as a result of the coronavirus, the national confederation of industry said, but this still represents a slower drop than in February-March, indicating a slight recovery in exports.

By Sara Warden