Blast at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor idles furnace

An explosion at integrated steelmaker ArcelorMittal's Burns Harbor, Indiana, mill has damaged a blast furnace and taken it off line.

The company confirmed that a stove dome failed, causing a fire at blast furnace D at Burns Harbor and forcing ArcelorMittal to take the blast furnace down. The D blast furnace has a steelmaking capacity of 2.48mn metric tons (t)/yr, according to data from the Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST).

Videos posted to Facebook shows an explosion sending molten material out of the building before setting it ablaze.

The company is assessing required repairs and does not expect an impact on its ability to supply its customers. No employees were injured or killed.

The unexpected closure of furnace D comes months after ArcelorMittal idled blast furnace C at Burns Harbor, the other 2.48mn t/yr steelmaking facility at the mill.

ArcelorMittal shut down the C blast furnace and two other blast furnaces, one each at its Cleveland and Indiana Harbor mills, after US automakers and other manufacturers shuttered much of their operations in March in the face of Covid-19-related shutdowns. The three idled blast furnaces total at least 7.5mn t/yr of steelmaking capacity.

By Rye Druzin