POSCO's Largest Blast Furnace

POSCO ignites 4th blast furnace capable of producing 5 mln tons of steel annually

POSCO has opened the age of the mega-blast furnace with the capacity to produce 500 million tons of crude iron annually by igniting the fourth blast furnace at the Gwangyang Works on July 21, which went through repairs and improvements, the steelmaker said.
The steelmaker held a ceremony to launch the operation of the blast furnace attended by a number of dignitaries led by Chairman Chung Joon-yang at the Gwangyang Works of the giant steelmaker. The blast furnace, with 5,500 cubic meters capacity, is 900 cubic meters bigger than the third blast furnace at the steelworks. POSCO's second steel mill is located in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.
The 5 million tons of steel produced with the blast furnace match the total quantity of steel plates required annually by the automobile industry in Korea, the steelmaker said.
That POSCO has such a large capacity blast furnace means that it has enough iron ore to feed it with the ability to manage the quality of steel products made by the blast furnace as well as the mass production of crude iron, the company said.
The new blast furnace will not only increase steel production, but also help sharpen POSCO's product quality competitiveness, the company said, as only four countries have blast furnaces bigger than POSCO's including Russia, with a blast furnace with the capacity of 5,580 cubic meters, and Mitsubishi, with one having 5,555 cubic meters in capacity, among others.
In terms of daily output of crude steel, the Gwangyang Works' fourth blast furnace is the largest in the world with a daily output capacity of 14,000 tons, which shows POSCO's outstanding steelmaking technologies. The new blast furnace is not the biggest in size, but outperforms its competitors in terms of steel output.













Chairman Chung, in his speech at the launching ceremony, said POSCO was able to open the age of super-large blast furnaces in a country with only 40 years of steelmaking history. "The superb record is owed to our excellent capacities for all phases of steelmaking including design, construction, operation and maintenance technologies ― tops in the world," the POSCO chairman said.
Chung said, "POSCO will continue to improve its steelmaking technologies for producing crude steel from iron ore through the blast furnaces so that we will always be able to keep the top position in the world steel industry."
The fact that POSCO launched the operation of the fourth furnace is owed to an outlook that the world economy will soon begin to emerge from the economic trough, enabling the steel industry to recover, industry sources said. nw

Chairman Chung Joon-yang ignites the 4th blast furnace of POSCO's Gwangyang Works during a ceremony on July 21 to restart the operation of the blast furnace which has been repaired and improved so that it can produce 5 million tons of crude steel per year, the biggest for a single blast furnace in the world.

POSCO executives led by Chairman Chung, 4th L, clap hands following the successful ignition of the 4th blast furnace of the Gwangyang Works in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province.