The steelmaker ArcelorMittal has temporarily shut down blast furnace A at its steelworks in Gijón (Spain) following a steam explosion. This was reported by Don Porqué.
The incident occurred on the morning of 9 September. The company immediately activated its safety and emergency protocols; there were no casualties (50 people were working at the site at the time).
According to ArcelorMittal, a water pipe burst in the casting shop of Blast Furnace A, causing a steam explosion on the taphead platform. The material damage is estimated to be minor, and the blast furnace itself was not damaged.
The unit was safely shut down to allow for an investigation and repair work. Blast furnace B remains in operation.
The initial assessment of the situation suggested a shutdown lasting between 24 and 48 hours. However, the following day after the incident, the forecast was revised, and the blast furnace is scheduled to be restarted on 12 September.
As a reminder, in March 2023, ArcelorMittal shut down a blast furnace in A Gijón following a fire – at the time, the incident was caused by a disruption to the unit’s routine shutdown procedure.
In May last year, ArcelorMittal resumed production at blast furnace B at the plant following a shutdown of around six months due to a technical fault. Prior to this, the company had made several unsuccessful attempts to restart the furnace safely.
As reported by GMK Center, in October last year, ArcelorMittal Fos-sur-Mer shut down blast furnace No. 2 due to a fire that broke out on two conveyor lines supplying raw materials to the steelmaking shop. This led to an almost complete halt in production. Steel production at the plant resumed in December.
