'Fire' POSCO Pohang Steelworks, Blast Furnace Restarted in the Morning

Many Production Facilities Halted Due to Fire on the 23rd

On the 24th, POSCO's Pohang Steelworks, where the operation of a significant number of production facilities was temporarily halted due to a fire on the 23rd, began restarting operations.

According to POSCO, after preheating, the company restarted Blast Furnace No. 2 at 2 a.m. on the same day, and Blast Furnaces No. 3 and No. 4 by 9 a.m. Following the resumption of the blast furnaces, subsequent production facilities that receive molten iron to produce steel and products also began normal operations.

The fire that broke out around the electrical wires near Blast Furnace No. 2 at Pohang Steelworks at approximately 7:07 a.m. the previous day was extinguished by the dispatched fire brigade after 2 hours and 10 minutes. There were no casualties, but a power outage caused the suspension of operations in some production facilities.

POSCO conducted a so-called flare-off operation, which automatically burns off byproduct gas generated during the product manufacturing process to prevent the risk of explosion due to increased gas concentration. During this process, the area around the plant was covered in black smoke, and flames erupted from the chimney.

Subsequently, POSCO carried out restoration work, resuming operations at FINEX Plants 2 and 3 from the morning of the previous day, and focused efforts on restoring the remaining facilities.

A POSCO official stated, "Since the downtime of the facilities due to this fire was short, we expect no significant disruption to the production and supply of steel products."

[Image source=Yonhap News]