ArcelorMittal restarting Indiana Harbor blast furnace

Integrated steelmaker ArcelorMittal has begun the restarting process of its No 4 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor West, just weeks after another blast furnace at a different location was idled after it suffered an explosion and fire.

The 1.56mn metric ton (t)/yr blast furnace at Indiana Harbor was idled in March as the US economy shut down because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Blast furnace D at Burns Harbor suffered an explosion and fire on 16 July, forcing ArcelorMittal to idle the facility. The facility will require "a couple of weeks" of repairs, an ArcelorMittal spokesman said.

The Indiana Harbor restart comes as integrated steelmaker US Steel has fired up three idled blast furnaces since June, totaling 3.06mn short tons (st)/yr of pig iron capacity. AK Steel has also restarted its 2.2mn st/yr blast furnace at Dearborn.

Integrated steelmakers took nearly 18mn st/yr of production off line between March and May as they dealt with steel demand disruption because of the pandemic.

By Rye Druzin