- SEOUL: South Korea’s POSCO, the world’s third biggest steelmaker, said one of its blast furnaces in the southwestern city of Gwangyang was on fire, but that no production disruptions had been reported.
“No production damage and no casualties have been reported so far. The fire started due to a small explosion at a gas pipe which had leakage. Once heavy dust near the furnace is cleared, we will find out the exact damage to the facility,” a POSCO spokesman said.
A firefighter in Gwangyang confirmed POSCO’s assessment of the incident.
The No. 2 furnace, where the accident broke out, has an annual production capacity of 3.5 million tons, around 10 percent of POSCO’s total capacity, the spokesman said.