RG Steel began advising their Warren customers of an accident which occurred at the Warren facility late Saturday night which caused a "breakout" of hot metal at their only blast furnace at the Warren facility. The mill advised their customers they are evaluating the situation but their furnace is down at this time.

Here is what RG Steel was telling their customers this afternoon:

“Dear Valued Customer:

At approximately 2 a.m. on Saturday February 18, a breakout occurred at the Warren, Ohio blast furnace. Fortunately there were no injuries, however damage was done to the furnace.The extent of the damage is still being determined, as well as the full impact on the operation and our customers.

We are continuing to process all available material through the caster and hot strip mill to meet customer orders. We are reviewing all open customer orders at Warren for which steel had not yet been produced to determine our ability to move these orders to other RG Steel operations.Production at both Sparrows Point and Yorkville is not affected by this event.

Effective immediately, all unacknowledged orders for business historically produced at Warren must be inquired and reviewed to determine acceptance at another RG Steel location.

We apologize for any disruption to our customers, and assure you that we are doing all possible to minimize the impact of this event on your business. We will advise you as soon as new information is available. Please contact your RG Steel Sales or Customer Service Representative with specific questions about your account.

Thank you for your continued support of RG Steel.”

Steel Market Update will have more in our newsletter which will be published later this evening.