Steel Mills

US Steel has Curtailed Steelmaking Operations at Gary Works

April 3, 2014

In a letter to their customers, US Steel advised that their Gary Works blast furnaces and steelmaking operations will be down temporarily due to “unforeseen and unprecedented ice conditions on the Great Lakes that is delaying the transportation of critical raw materials.” The mill went on to say that these conditions have not occurred on the Great Lakes for more than thirty years.

This comes just a few days after US Steel Great Lakes steelmaking operations were taken offline due to a large pipe used to collect dust and fumes from the BOF’s fell and collapsed a portion of the roof protecting the BOF’s from the elements.

When combined, the two steelmaking operations have the capability to produce approximately 32,000+ tons of steel per day. Below is a table of the blast furnaces and BOF/BOP capabilities at the two plants. Note: Great Lakes only runs two furnaces at any one time.

US Steel is advising their customers, “U.S. Steel is making every reasonable effort to mitigate the effects of all possible delays in delivery. We will work individually with affected customers to provide updated delivery information and to indentify alternative supply paths in order to minimize the impact on our customer’s operations….”