Steel Mills

USS Plans Maintenance Outage at Gary Works' No. 6

Written by David Schollaert

August 13, 2021

Integrated steelmaker U.S. Steel is taking the No. 6 blast furnace at its Gary Works steel mill offline for 38 days beginning at the end of next month, a company spokesperson confirmed to Steel Market Update.

US Steel

The planned maintenance outage at its Indiana facility is scheduled for Sept. 30 and should run through Nov. 9. This is the first lengthier outage to the furnace since it was idled for two months because of COVID-19-related closures in April 2020.

The scope of work to the 1.23-million-ton-per-year furnace includes repairs and replacement of the hot blast system and furnace top equipment, said the U.S. Steel spokesperson.

This extensive outage to No. 6 coincides with U.S. Steel’s week-long maintenance program scheduled for its Big River Steel operations during Q4.

This latest outage enters the queue of fourth-quarter maintenance programs across North American steelmakers. In addition to U.S. Steel’s planned outages, Cleveland-Cliffs’ Indiana Harbor No. 7 blast furnace will be offline for approximately 45 days, while Nucor’s Gallatin, Ky., flat-rolled mill will undergo maintenance on its electric-arc furnace for roughly 30 days at the end of November.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

 

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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