TOKYO: Nippon Steel Corp, Japan's largest steelmaker, said on Tuesday it has restarted a blast furnace in its Kashima plant that was suspended due to lean demand from automakers and construction projects amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world's third-biggest steelmaker, which suspended the furnace in Kashima, near Tokyo, in mid-April last year, had said in December that it would resume operations at the furnace soon.