Sumitomo Metals Restarts Kashima No.1 Blast Furnace and Sumitomo Metals Kashima Thermal Power Station

2011.03.26

  • Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.

Today at 9:02am, Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Metals) resumed operation of its No.1 Blast Furnace (internal volume 5,370 cubic meters) in Kashima Steelworks. Thus, Sumitomo Metals has succeeded in restarting and operating both blast furnaces in Kashima.

In addition, Sumitomo Metals Kashima Thermal Power Station (Kashima Power Station) began generating electricity at 4:58pm yesterday, and reached 100% capacity, generating an output of 475 megawatts at 0:57am today. Kashima Power Station is able to generate enough electricity to meet the power demand of all households in Ibaraki Prefecture that is home to about 3 million people. All of the station’s electricity is supplied to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and we hope it will help TEPCO to scale back the rolling blackouts currently in force in the areas around Tokyo. Sumitomo Metals is aware of the importance of power supplies to the recovery of the areas around Tokyo, and have made the restarting of Kashima Power Station a very high priority.

On March 24, the first shipment from Kashima Steelworks to overseas customers left Kashima Port.

In Kashima’s Plate Mill, all the finishing lines, such as the shearing and inspection line (except the rolling line) have resumed their operations. This means that the Plate Mill can finish its inventory and begin shipping product to customers. Sumitomo Metals plans to restart the coke ovens to resume the coke gas balance and thereby restart the Hot Strip Mill and Plate Mill rolling mills.

Our colleagues in Kashima, including maintenance staff sent there from other sites throughout Sumitomo Metals, are working very hard in the midst of frequent aftershocks and insufficient supplies of essential utilities such as gas, water and electricity in the surrounding areas. We at Sumitomo Metals are working towards the full recovery of Kashima Steelworks so that it can play a role in the reconstruction of earthquake-stricken communities.

Kashima Steelworks’ Post-earthquake Recovery Timeline

M/Day
Time
Events
3/11 2:46pm
The huge earthquake halted production lines.

Around

3:00pm

 Fire in the No.1 Coke gas holder.
→ Extinguished around noon 3/12 (March 12th).
3:30pm Tsunami Alert was announced.
→ Evacuation
4:20pm Disaster Management Center set up at each factory and at the SMI Head Office. Held meeting every 1 to 3 hours to discuss what we will do (everyone, from the Chairman and President on down, share the information.)
Achievements:
→ Gained an understanding of the state of damage.
→ Set up a support system for Kashima, led by the President.
→ Mobilized supporting staffs at each site and affiliated companies, and began sending them to Kashima.
→ Sent trucks carrying emergency aid supplies from Naoetsu in the evening. Other sites also sent out aid supplies to Kashima.
7:30pm Safety of all colleagues (including customers and partner companies) at the Steelworks was confirmed.
3/12 5:00am Emergency aid supplies arrived at Kashima from Naoetsu.
→ Followed by aid supplies from other sites, affiliated companies and business partners.
8:00am Established a 24-hour video conferencing system which connected Kashima, Tokyo, Osaka and all other sites.
a.m. Determined damage at Kashima, drew up a recovery plan, and asked partner companies for support.
・ Damage to the quay and quay cranes
・ Fire damage to the coke gas holders
・ Damage to the auxiliary facilities of the coke oven and loosened gas tubes
・ Damage to the auxiliary facilities of the blast furnace
Night Supporting staff from other sites arrived.
→ Approx. 300 staffs and over 2,000 people from partner companies began the work.
- Began to work to restart the Shape Mill and other plants, with the first objective set at contributing to reconstruction of the quake-stricken areas.
- Have been conducting work in the Plate Mill and steel sheet mills, by successively restarting equipment in order to finish manufacturing products in process for shipment first.
3/15 Shipment of lightweight welded H-beams, pipe piles, and sheets resumed.
3/17 Production of pipe piles at Sumikin Weld Pipe Company resumed.
3/18 Production of lightweight welded H-beams resumed.
Seaborne shipping resumed.
3/19 Production of large-diameter welded pipes resumed.
3/20 Operation of the No.3 Blast Furnace restarted.
3/24 Export shipments resumed.
3/25 Kashima Power Station boilers lit.
3/26 No.1 Blast Furnace restarted.
Kashima Power Station at 100% operational output.


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