Steel Mills

US Steel Starts 60-Day Outage on Slovakia Blast Furnace

Written by Michael Cowden

September 6, 2022

US Steel has begun a 60-day planned outage on the No. 2 blast furnace at its steel mill in Košice, Slovakia.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker operates three blast furnaces at the mill: No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3.

The outage on No. 2. began on Sunday, Sept. 4. The No. 1 and No. 3 furnaces remain in operation, a company spokeswoman said in an email to SMU on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

“We continue to operate our facilities in line with customer demand, and we are going to adjust our maintenance schedules accordingly,” she added.

The Košice steelmaking complex produces not only a full suite of carbon flat-rolled steel products but also electrical steels and spiral-welded pipe.

It employs nearly 11,000 people, making it an important employer in Slovakia.

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 specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, 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.

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