US Steel announced today it will begin processing slabs on the currently idled hot strip mill at Granite City Works in Granite City, Illinois, in mid-February 2017. US Steel intends to source slabs from its own domestic facilities.
In a press release, US Steel said it is making an adjustment to its hot strip mill operating configuration to provide better alignment with customer needs and improve service while increasing the pace of its asset revitalization plan. The company plans to take periodic outages at Gary Works (Gary, Indiana), Great Lakes Works (Detroit, Michigan), and Mon Valley Works (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) to improve the capabilities and reliability of the hot strip mills.
The Granite City Works blast furnaces and steelmaking facilities were idled in December 2015 and the hot strip mill was idled in January 2016. The blast furnaces and steelmaking facilities will remain idled, while the pickle line, cold mill and finishing lines at Granite City Works will continue to operate.