Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor Furnace to be Down for Repairs
Written by Sandy Williams
March 12, 2015
ArcelorMittal is preparing to idle the No 3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor for scheduled stove repair on March 16. The steel making outage is expected to last until late second quarter 2015.
A statement received from ArcelorMittal read as follows:
“ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor will move forward with a previously scheduled maintenance outage to conduct stove repairs on its No. 3 blast furnace beginning the week of March 16. Preparations to idle the furnace are underway, and the outage is expected to last until late Q2 2015 or until additional capacity is required to meet customer demand. The stove repairs on No. 3 blast furnace will improve the efficiency and reliability of the asset and ultimately allow ArcelorMittal and the Indiana Harbor facility to be well positioned to meet future customer requirements.
“ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor’s No. 4 and No. 7 furnaces will operate as normal. The outage will not impact our ability to meet customer demand.”
The number 3 blast furnace produces approximately 2 million tons of pig iron melt per year. If the furnace is off-line for three months the mill would lose about 490,000 tons of pig iron production. The actual steel production lost would be higher since scrap is added to the pig iron in the basic oxygen furnace (BOF) in order to produce the final molten steel heats. You can learn more about the steel making process as well how steel is bought and sold, how commodities impact mills cost to produce and market fundamentals at SMU next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop which will be held just outside of Chicago on May 19-20, 2015. The workshop includes a tour of the NLMK Indiana steel mill. Details are on our website.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
USW says opposing USS/Nippon deal is First Amendment right, seeks lawsuit dismissal
The union says the suit is "a frivolous and unsubstantiated attack on our union simply for exercising our First Amendment rights."
AISI: Weekly raw steel output ticks higher
The volume of raw steel produced by US mills slightly increased last week, according to American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data. Last week’s production rate represents the second-highest level recorded this year.
Opening briefs filed in Nippon/USS lawsuit vs. US government
Together, Nippon Steel, Nippon Steel North America, and U.S. Steel announced the filing of their opening brief in their litigation to invalidate the government’s decision to block their announced merger. The brief lays out “how President Biden made a predetermined decision for political reasons, not national security, causing CFIUS to engage in a sham review […]
Cliffs blames muted auto demand for steep losses in 2024
Muted demand from the auto industry took a particular toll later in the year.
U.S. Steel losses widen, better times seen as BR2 ramp-up continues
U.S. Steel’s losses widened in the fourth quarter on lower steel prices, weaker demand, and startup costs relating to the expansion of its Big River Steel EAF sheet mill in Arkansas. But the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it expected results to improve in 2025 as Big River 2 – the project to double capacity at the Osceola, Ark., mill - gains steam.