OREANDA-NEWS. March 28, 2011. 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.