Canton, Ohio-based special bar quality steel (SBQ) manufacturer Republic Steel announced Wednesday that it will invest $85.2 million to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) and associated equipment at its steel mill in Lorain, Ohio. An expansion to the Lorain mill was due to its close proximity to Republic Steel customers. The announcement is subject to finalization and ratification of a new labor agreement with the United Steelworkers union.
Construction of the EAF is expected to begin in 2012 and completed in 2013. Once completed, the new furnace will add 1 million tons of annual capacity to the Lorain facility.
Republic has seen demand for its products increase substantially in the last couple years, following the shutdown of the company's blast furnace in December 2008 after the onset of the recent recession.