Sichuan province-based Chinese steelmaker Pangang Group has said that it has managed to increase efficiency in its new blast furnace no. 3 of its vanadium molten iron mill, decreasing iron loss and coke usage.

As of August 22, the iron extracted from furnace slag amounted to over 9,000 mt, and it created the economic value worthy of over RMB 20 million ($3.1 million). In the January-July period of the current year, the furnace's coke usage stood at 449 kg, allowing costs to decrease by about RMB 10 million ($1.56 million). According to the company data, the pig iron and coke consumption for each 1 mt of steel fell 8 kg compared with the same month of last year