Dongkuk Steel Mill, the nation’s third-largest steelmaker, said Sunday it stared the operation of CSP Steel Mill, its long-awaited first blast furnace steelwork, located in Pecem City of Ceara State, Brazil.

Dongkuk Steel vice chairman Chang Sae-wook fired up the blast furnace with other participating VIPs in the ceremony held at the site on Saturday, the company said in a press release. 

The steelmaker has led the $5.5 billion-invested CSP Steel Mill construction project since 2012 with two other partners for financing -- POSCO and Brazil-based Vale, the world’s largest iron ore mining company.

Shareholders of joint venture firm CSP Steel Mill are composed of POSCO, Dongkuk Steel and Vale, with their shareholdings divided to 50 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

Different from the two partners, Dongkuk is responsible for operating the mill with annual production capacity of 3 million tons, and it secures160 tons of the annual production for direct use in Korea or exports.

“The CSP Steel Mill project will play a key role of transforming the company into a global steelmaker,” a company spokesperson said.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)