Steel Mills
'Tis the season for fall maintenance outages
Written by Laura Miller
August 20, 2024
We’re already halfway through the third quarter of 2024. Fall is coming in North America, and with it, steel mills’ regularly scheduled fall maintenance outages.
In a slow, unsure market with uncertainty swirling around steel demand, steel prices, and November’s elections, some mills have even moved up their planned outages in anticipation of a better market later in Q4 or beyond.
SMU has received multiple reports from various sources of outages slated for the rest of the year at flat-rolled steel mills across North America. SMU contacted all the mills for confirmation but received just one reply: U.S. Steel said they were “looking into this” for us, but still had not responded by our publication deadline. Therefore, note that the outages listed below are all unconfirmed.
While this is not a comprehensive list, it provides some sense that the outages coming through year’s end are not insignificant.
If you know of any other upcoming outages or changes to the list below, please contact laura@steelmarketupdate.com.
Editor’s note: The chart above has been updated with a revised production loss estimate for USS’ Gary Works.
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Steel Mills
USW seeks clarity on plans for Granite City Works
The United Steelworkers union has asked U.S. Steel to elaborate on its Granite City Works plans following reports that the steelmaker is ending processing at the facility.
Nucor maintains plate prices, opens October order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat for a seventh straight month with the opening of its October order book.
ArcelorMittal Mexico to import from sister mills as it works to resume DRI production
ArcelorMittal has partially restarted operations at its direct reduction plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. An explosion on Aug. 18 rocked the massive steelworks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, impacting production of direct-reduced iron (DRI).
Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot
Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!
AISI: Domestic steel production ticks up
US raw steel production ticked up in the week ending on Sept. 6 after a decrease the week before, according to the most recent data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).