ArcelorMittal shuts down Indiana blast furnace

Global steelmaker ArcelorMittal is shutting down a blast furnace in Indiana amid lower demand and to defer investing in the facility.

The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said it is shutting down its blast furnace No 3, which has a production capacity of 4,500 t/day (4,960 st/day) of pig iron, at its Indiana Harbor integrated steel mill near Chicago.

ArcelorMittal's Indiana Harbor mill has three blast furnaces and four basic oxygen furnaces (BOFs) with an annual steel production capacity 6.4mn t/yr. The majority of the steel cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil (HRC) products made for the automotive industry and steel service centers.

The company said the shutdown will not impact its ability to meet future customer demand, and it will be preserved for when demand increases and the company decides to reinvest in the blast furnace to bring it back online.

The idling is the latest move by the US steel industry to reduce production amid lower steel prices.

US Steel announced in October that it would idle an iron ore production facility in Minnesota due to market conditions.

The integrated steelmaker has also kept two US blast furnaces with a monthly production of 200,000-225,000st/month offline through the rest of 2019.

US steelmakers have been dealing with low steel prices in the US market throughout much of 2019.

The Argus weekly domestic US HRC index rose by $15/st to $505.50/st ex-works Midwest last week, up by 4pc compared to the yearly low of $488/st recorded in October. While prices have increased slightly in the last few weeks, they are down by 32pc compared to the $740/st recorded at the beginning of the year.