China Steel Corp (中鋼), Taiwan’s biggest producer, said it will start operating its Dragon Steel Corp (中龍) unit on Friday, increasing capacity by 25 percent to meet rising domestic demand.
The first products from the furnace — which is expected to have an annual 2.5 million tonne capacity — are expected on Sunday, executive vice president Chung Le-min (鍾樂民) said in an interview yesterday.
China Steel, which raised March prices by an average 4.9 percent on Jan. 20, will set domestic prices for the mill today, he said.
Production from Taiwan’s basic metal industry surged 57 percent in December from a year earlier as public works projects and expansion by technology companies bolstered demand for steel, an economic ministry report showed on Jan. 25.
“The market is improving,” Chung said by phone from Kaohsiung, where China Steel is based.
The Dragon Steel plant in western Taiwan will make up the shortfall caused by the stoppage of China Steel’s No. 1 furnace, shut last month for regular repairs, Chung said.
The No. 1 furnace, which has an annual capacity of 1.9 million tonnes, will be restarted in July, he said.
Supply and demand in Taiwan will become “balanced” as the Dragon Steel furnace starts production, he said.
With Dragon Steel, China Steel will have five furnaces with a combined capacity of 12.5 million tons a year.
Dragon Steel is building a second furnace, slated to start production in 2013, Chung said on Feb. 3.
That furnace will also have an annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes, he then said.
Separately, the company isn’t planning to buy a stake in Salzgitter AG, Germany’s second-largest steelmaker, because of high labor and other costs in the European country, Chung said.
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