ID :
14266
Tue, 07/29/2008 - 23:46
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/14266
The shortlink copeid
Fire at gas pipe of Nippon Steel coke factory in Kitakyushu
KITAKYUSHU, Japan, July 29 Kyodo - A fire continued to burn Tuesday afternoon at several points of a gas pipe outside a coke factory in Nippon Steel Corp.'s Yawata Works plant complex inKitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, but the fire has not spread to the building, firefighters said.
No one was injured in the blaze which started at around 6:45 a.m., according to a Yawata Works official, noting that it is expected to take a whole day for the fire to end as they would have to wait until the gas in the pipe burns out.
Nippon Steel said it temporarily suspended fanning to a blast furnace and crude steel production, and added it can deal with the situation by using inventories for the time being.
But industry analysts said a prolonged suspension could lead to supply shortages and eventually to higher prices of steel products. The plant has a daily crude steel output of over 10,000 tons.
Yasuo Fujii, head of the plant, apologized for causing problems to nearby residents, and played down any significant impact on steel production.
''We still don't know its impact on the production side, but we believe that there won't be any major damage,'' Fujii told a press conference.
The police believe that a conveyor belt about 30 meters high fell and damaged the gas pipe, leading to the fire, they said.
The conveyor belt was used to transfer coal into the furnace, according to Nippon Steel.
Twenty-seven fire trucks and a helicopter were deployed to battle the fire.
The coke factory was running at the time the fire started as it operates 24 hours a day with three shifts of workers, the company said.
In April 2004, a fire burned a conveyor belt and coal near the same coke factory at the plant.
The plant is located at a site of about 10 million square meters, with about 3,000 directly employed workers and around 7,000 employees from subcontractors and other concerns.
No one was injured in the blaze which started at around 6:45 a.m., according to a Yawata Works official, noting that it is expected to take a whole day for the fire to end as they would have to wait until the gas in the pipe burns out.
Nippon Steel said it temporarily suspended fanning to a blast furnace and crude steel production, and added it can deal with the situation by using inventories for the time being.
But industry analysts said a prolonged suspension could lead to supply shortages and eventually to higher prices of steel products. The plant has a daily crude steel output of over 10,000 tons.
Yasuo Fujii, head of the plant, apologized for causing problems to nearby residents, and played down any significant impact on steel production.
''We still don't know its impact on the production side, but we believe that there won't be any major damage,'' Fujii told a press conference.
The police believe that a conveyor belt about 30 meters high fell and damaged the gas pipe, leading to the fire, they said.
The conveyor belt was used to transfer coal into the furnace, according to Nippon Steel.
Twenty-seven fire trucks and a helicopter were deployed to battle the fire.
The coke factory was running at the time the fire started as it operates 24 hours a day with three shifts of workers, the company said.
In April 2004, a fire burned a conveyor belt and coal near the same coke factory at the plant.
The plant is located at a site of about 10 million square meters, with about 3,000 directly employed workers and around 7,000 employees from subcontractors and other concerns.
