U.S. Steel comments on blast furnace accident

U.S. Steel comments on blast furnace accident

US Steel Corp. said today that despite an accident that damaged a furnace section last week, its No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works should be in use by early December. Carlee Vargo of US Steel told SteelOrbis, “The furnace section is being repaired and it’s expected to be in place in less than a week or so.” The furnace should be capable of achieving its expected production rate of 9’200 tons per day by January 2006. The company also commented on third quarter business conditions and said it expects earnings will be less than estimated by analysts, due in part to declines in income for flat rolled and US Steel Europe segments. The company says flat rolled steel shipments are now expected to be slightly below second quarter levels, and flat rolled average prices are expected to be moderately lower than the second quarter. Flat rolled costs have also increased this quarter along with rising scrap and natural gas costs. Though third quarter shipments in Europe will be below second quarter shipments, a blast furnace at US Steel Kosice, Slovakia is expected to return to production in October, and should support higher operating levels and strengthening order rates.