US flat rolled producer, AK Steel's Ashland, Kentucky plant, recalled more than 500 hourly employees to return back to work Monday, as the company prepares to restart its blast furnace there.
Once the Kentucky plant's blast furnace is operational, the company will take down the blast furnace at its Middletown, Ohio plant for an estimated 45 days of heavy maintenance, while replacing the hearth in the furnace.
AK Steel reported a loss of $430.6 million in the fourth quarter 2008. The Kentucky plant had been idled since November 2008 as a result of difficult economic conditions.