Japan's Nippon Steel plans to restart the No. 2 blast furnace at its East Japan Works in Kimitsu, Chiba prefecture, by the end of November, the steelmaker said Oct. 6.

Operations at the 4,500 cu m No. 2 blast furnace were suspended in mid-May due to reduced demand from automakers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But demand appears to be returning. Toyota Motor Corp. said Sept. 28 its global sales had recovered to 90% of pre-COVID-19 levels at 720,765 units in August, down 10.6% year on year.

Nippon Steel began idling its domestic furnaces as early as Feb. 15 "in order to respond to a significant decrease in steel demand, but based on the future demand outlook, we will establish an optimal operating system for the types and fields where demand is expected to increase," the company said in a statement.

Nippon Steel has a total crude steel production capacity of about 52 million mt/year.

-- Clement Choo, Samuel Chin