US Steel talks to SteelOrbis about Gary Works restart
After several months of delays,
US Steel is re-entering its Gary Works plant in the domestic sheet market with the restart of its idled No. 14 blast furnace.
SteelOrbis spoke with
US Steel public affairs manager D. John Armstrong today about the long-anticipated restart.
"We started heating the stoves last week, and hope that it will be producing at capacity by the end of the month," Mr. Armstrong told SteelOrbis Friday.
The $260 million rebuild the furnace underwent kept it out of commission for several months longer than originally anticipated due to parts delays and assembly problems. With the Gary Works furnace, the largest of its kind in the US, out of the picture for several months, the domestic sheet supply was significantly limited, allowing prices to stay high.
Of the effect that restarting the blast furnace will have on the supply/demand situation, Mr. Armstrong said, "It's our intention, in keeping with our goal of balancing
production with demand, to adjust
production on all of our domestic facilities once we have No. 14 in
production at capacity."
Producing at No. 14's capacity will mean producing nearly 9'200 tons per day.
Mr. Armstrong concluded, "We're looking forward to it. We've invested time, money, and effort to create this world class blast furnace with a 20 year life span. It's the largest of the eleven that we operate in the US, and we're very pleased it's coming online soon."
Mr. Armstrong would not comment on the rumors of a
US Steel takeover, as per company policy.