Liuzhou Iron & Steel Group (Liugang) has successfully commissioned its No.3 blast furnace at the Fangchenggang steelworks in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on November 26. This milestone marks the completion of the first phase of the Fangchenggang project, which involved a total investment of 36 billion Yuan (approximately $4.96 billion).

The newly operational blast furnace joins two others that were put into service in June 2020 and November 2021, each with an inner volume of 3,800 cubic meters. The first phase also includes four converters, providing a pig iron capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per year and a steelmaking capacity of 9.2 million tonnes annually.
At the commissioning ceremony, Liugang announced the start of commercial production at its new heavy plate mill, which features a width of 3.8 meters and a capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per year for high-end wide and heavy plate products. The heavy plate mill's construction took one year to complete.

Originally approved by China's central government in 2012, the Fangchenggang project faced delays until Liugang resumed development in 2018 after Wugang, which had initially partnered with Liugang, withdrew due to financial losses amid an oversupplied steel market.
Despite challenges, Liugang's finished steel output for January to September this year decreased by 8.6% year-on-year to 8.41 million tonnes, with revenues falling by 6.86% to 53.1 billion Yuan during the same period. However, the company reported a reduced net loss of 307 million Yuan compared to a loss of 516 million Yuan in the previous year.