Gerdau to idle Michigan bar mill melt, rolling ops

Steelmaker Gerdau will idle the melting and rolling operations at its special bar quality (SBQ) mill in Jackson, Michigan, beginning in mid-April.

The mill, located west of Detroit, has an electric arc furnace (EAF) with a production capacity of 300,000 metric tons (t)/yr (331,000 short tons/yr) and 276,000 t/yr of rolled steel products. The Jackson mill produces special bars and shapes and cold finished bar.

Gerdau said that the mill's processing and finishing facilities in Jackson will continue operating.

Gerdau will move orders from the Jackson mill to its other two special steel division mills in Monroe, Michigan, and Fort Smith, Arkansas. Those mills have a combined melt capacity of 1.15mn t/yr and 1.24mn t/yr of rolled steel products.

The move is the second idling of steelmaking capacity in Michigan announced recently.

Integrated steelmaker US Steel said in December that it would begin idling its remaining blast furnace and other steelmaking operations at its Great Lakes Works beginning in April. The mill is operating with 1.4mn st/yr of steel capacity, and produces hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC) and coated sheet products. The hot strip mill will be idled by the end of 2020.

By Rye Druzin