Steel Mills

AM/NS Calvert Confirms Maintenance Outage

March 11, 2021

AM/NS Calvert has a planned maintenance outage coming up, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

The outage is expected to take place in May on the Alabama steel mill’s hot-strip mill, market participants said.

AM NS Calvert

The spokeswoman did not confirm when the outage would take place or on what part of the mill repairs or upgrades would be made.

AM/NS Calvert makes hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheet for a range of markets including automotive, construction, service centers and HVAC.

The mill does not have a melt shop and so re-rolls slabs melted and cast elsewhere on its hot-strip mill.

The outage is notable because it comes as several steelmakers–not only integrated mills but also electric-arc (EAF) furnace producers–have scheduled spring and summer downtime.

If the outage is on the hot-strip mill, it would also be notable because the AM/NS Calvert hot-strip mill is among the largest in the United States. It has annual capacity of 5.4 million tons, according to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology’s 2021 Directory of Iron and Steel Plants.

That’s the same annual capacity as Cleveland-Cliffs’ hot-strip mill in Middletown, Ohio. Only U.S. Steel’s Gary Works hot-strip mill in northwest Indiana is bigger at 5.7 million tons, per the AIST.

The raft of outages have contributed to record-high steel prices in the United States.

Steel Market Update’s benchmark hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,270 per ton, its highest reading ever.

AM/NS Calvert is a joint venture of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He has since 2014 specialized in flat-rolled steel but has previously reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube as well as aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago - where he was involved in launching AMM's daily hot-rolled coil index, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.