US Steel restarting Illinois blast furnace
US Steel is restarting a 3,600 s. tons per day blast furnace at its Granite City, Illinois mill. The furnace was idled in late April and will be producing iron again next week, bringing the company’s total number of operating blast furnaces to 10.
"When this one comes back on line it means all our blast furnaces are operating except No. 13 at Gary, our largest furnace," a USS spokesman tells Steel Business Briefing. USS owns 12 blast furnaces but operates 11. The company never restarted one BF at its Ecorse, Michigan mill that came with the purchase of National Steel in 2003.
The Granite City furnace was idled during a time of sagging demand, which now appears to be recovering. USS and other US mills have announced sheet steel price increases for September deliveries, as previously reported by SBB. USS would not discuss overall production levels, but the spokesman says, "We will continue to balance our inventories with customer demand."
USS has embarked on a major $260m rebuild of its No. 13 BF in Gary, Indiana, a 7,000 s.t/d producer, which has been idle since late May and not expected to restart until the end of October.
"When this one comes back on line it means all our blast furnaces are operating except No. 13 at Gary, our largest furnace," a USS spokesman tells Steel Business Briefing. USS owns 12 blast furnaces but operates 11. The company never restarted one BF at its Ecorse, Michigan mill that came with the purchase of National Steel in 2003.
The Granite City furnace was idled during a time of sagging demand, which now appears to be recovering. USS and other US mills have announced sheet steel price increases for September deliveries, as previously reported by SBB. USS would not discuss overall production levels, but the spokesman says, "We will continue to balance our inventories with customer demand."
USS has embarked on a major $260m rebuild of its No. 13 BF in Gary, Indiana, a 7,000 s.t/d producer, which has been idle since late May and not expected to restart until the end of October.