Second blast furnace fired up in Smederevo steel mill

Second blast furnace fired up in Smederevo steel mill

The maximum production of Zelezara Smederevo is now assessed at around 2.2 million tons a year.

The Serbian government decided in March to entrust the management and consulting of Zelezara Smederevo to the Dutch company HPK Engineering BV.

Boosted steel mill output to push economic growth

An increased output from Serbia's sole steel mill will contribute to the growth of GDP, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said at the Smederevo steel mill, whose second blast furnace was restarted on Friday after four years of inactivity.

Vucic said that he expects that the restarting of the second blast furnace will help boost GDP by 0.3-0.4 percent.

After the restarting of the furnace, it will take up to 15 days for production to stabilise completely, after which the operating capacity will be expected to reach 75,000 tons a month.

The steel mill's maximum output is now estimated at around 2.2 million tons a year.