Integrated steelmaker ArcelorMittal is expected to idle a blast furnace at its Cleveland flat-rolled steel mill as coronavirus-related shutdowns continue to ripple across the steel industry.
The blast furnace will be idled sometime this week, multiple market sources told Argus. One source said the blast furnace had just come back online after a maintenance outage, running only a couple of days before ArcelorMittal decided to idle it.
The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment today.
The Cleveland mill has two blast furnaces with a combined 3.1mn short tons (st)/yr of steel capacity, according to data from the Association of Iron and Steel Technology. The smaller of the two blast furnaces, No 6, can produce 1.5mn st/yr of steel, while the No 5 blast furnace can produce 1.6mn st/yr.
ArcelorMittal's confirmation would bring the total amount of flat rolled steel production taken offline in the last two weeks to more than 5.5mn st/yr.
The idling is the latest for ArcelorMittal in the US after it announced two weeks ago that it would idle its No 4 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor West steel mill due to plant shutdowns in the US auto industry. It also idled a blast furnace at its Dofasco mill in Hamilton, Ontario.
Other integrated steelmakers recently shutting operations include AK Steel and US Steel.
