China Steel Corporation’s (CSC) No. 1 blast furnace, the oldest and first blast furnace in Taiwan, which has been in operation for nearly 50 years, is scheduled to be decommissioned in the first quarter of 2029. The blast furnace was officially put into operation on June 27, 1977, with a designed annual capacity of 1.8 million tons.

CSC's board of directors resolved last Friday (December 26) to decommission the No. 1 blast furnace no later than the first quarter of 2029, primarily considering global steel production capacity, future market demand, and operational efficiency.

Regarding whether it will convert the No. 1 blast furnace to an electric arc furnace (EAF) after its decommissioning, CSC stated that EAFs are difficult to produce high-grade steel. Therefore, CSC is still exploring this possibility and will refer to the production status of high-grade steel by international steel mills that have adopted EAFs.