The new No. 5 blast furnace of Benxi Iron and Steel Group's plate ironmaking plant was successfully completed and put into commercial production on the morning of November 30, marking the successful completion of the capacity replacement project of No. 5 blast furnace of Benxi Iron and Steel's plate ironmaking plant.

The new No. 5 blast furnace is a key technological transformation project of Benxi Iron and Steel Group in response to the national steel capacity replacement policy and the total investment of the project is RMB1.24 billion (USD189 million). The furnace capacity is 2,580m3 and the designed annual output is 2.435 million tons. The service life of the first generation of blast furnace is 20 years, while the life of air heating furnace is 30 years. It is a modern energy-saving and environmentally-friendly blast furnace with first-class equipment, first-class automation control and first-class operation management.