U.S. Steel Declares Blast Furnace Restart at Gary Works

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): United States Steel Corporation (US Steel)- the Pittsburgh-based integrated steelmaker announced restart of blast furnace at Gary Works steel mill in Indiana. The blast furnace No.6, which was idled in end-April this year, would be back to operation after a period of almost two months.

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The company was forced to idle the furnace following sudden drop in demand from steel-consuming manufacturers, especially automakers, following disruption of operations following the rapid spread of the pandemic. The current restart of the 1.36mn short ton (st)/yr blast furnace after the holiday weekend next week, is attributed to the notable growth in customer demand over the past few days.

It must be noted that the No.1 blast furnace at Moon Valley, which was idled along with the No.6 furnace at Gary Works, was restarted during the second week of June this year. Meantime, the No.4 blast furnace at Gary Works continues to remain idle.

Announcing the decision, U.S. Steel spokeswoman Meghan M. Cox said that the company remains committed to serve its customers as they adjust to changing market conditions. The flexibility of its blast furnaces will be utilized to the maximum, in order to accommodate the changes in its order book, she added.