According to the press release, Voestalpine’s HBI facility in Corpus Christi, Texas has closed temporarily and only suffered minor damages due to Hurricane Harvey. Management expects to begin ramping up the plant sometime the week of September 4. However, they warned about the firm’s dependence on external factors such as electricity supply, infrastructure, supply chain and spare part deliveries in its ability to reopen and regain usual production levels.
Voestalpine is scheduled to produce 2 million metric tons of high quality HBI annually. The facility produced its first volume of HBI in September 2016 and became fully operational in April 2017. Customers serviced include not only those in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) but also some in the EU, specifically, its Austrian parent company steel mills.