Following a fire on Tuesday, the 28th, JFE Bars & Shapes' Himeji plant announced that it would halt all scrap iron intake starting Thursday, the 30th.
The company has not specified an end date for the intake halt, indicating that the recovery process may take considerable time.
According to local daily newspapers such as Kobe Shimbun, the fire broke out in a dust collector at the Himeji plant around 9:20 PM on the 28th and was extinguished after 10 hours. No casualties or additional damage to surrounding facilities were reported, and the police are investigating the exact cause of the fire.
On the following day, the 29th, the Himeji plant only received scrap iron from nearby partner companies, but it plans to completely halt intake from the 30th. This intake halt is expected to put downward pressure on scrap iron prices in the Himeji region.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Steel's Tahara plant, a major base in the Kansai region, also experienced a fire on Saturday, the 25th, and its steelmaking operations have been suspended. The company plans to complete recovery work by the end of next month.
However, despite lowering scrap iron prices on the 28th, Tokyo Steel's Tahara plant has not implemented a separate intake halt.
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