Steel Mills

AK Steel Ashland Blast Furnace Down
Written by John Packard
February 25, 2014
AK Steel has lost their Ashland, Kentucky blast furnace. The furnace, which is called Amanda, is rated at 6,000 net tons per day according to AIST data.
According to customers of AK Steel, the company found a crack in the bottom of the furnace and the expected repairs are expected to take three weeks. When asked to comment on the problem or status of the repairs an AK Steel spokesperson had “no comment.”
The company is expected to lose somewhere around 100,000+ tons of pig iron production due to this issue.
The company issued the following statement in an 8-K filing on the AK Steel website:
“On February 22, 2014, AK Steel experienced an incident at the Company’s blast furnace in Ashland, Kentucky that has temporarily resulted in an unplanned outage of that furnace. There were no injuries in connection with this incident. The Company continues to assess the situation and investigate the root cause of the incident. In the meantime, the Company has begun repairs to bring the furnace back into production as soon as possible. Prior to the completion of those repairs, the Company will utilize its Middletown Works blast furnace and its Butler Works electric arc furnace, as well as purchase merchant carbon slabs, to service its customers.”
AK Steel has not been a large player in the spot markets since the company’s other blast furnace located in Middletown, Ohio had an issue during the summer 2013.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Mills

Steel Summit: Schneider sees SDI ‘on the edge of a very good run’
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) President and Chief Operating Officer, Barry Schneider, remains bullish about the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker’s position in the current market.

Steel Summit: Burritt says USS and Nippon are fast-tracking modern steelmaking
U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt told audiences at SMU's Steel Summit 2025 that the iconic American steelmaker’s partnership with Nippon Steel is fast-tracking smarter steel production.

Nucor moves to stop HRC price slide with $10/ton hike
Nucor is attempting to halt the decline in hot-rolled coil prices with the announcement of a $10-per-short-ton increase in its weekly consumer spot price on Monday.

Explosion rocks ArcelorMittal’s DR plant in Mexico
ArcelorMittal reported a "strong" explosion at the direct reduction part of its massive Lazaro Cardenas mill in Mexico.

SDI to acquire remaining stake in New Process Steel
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) announced that it has agreed to acquire the remaining 55% equity interest in New Process Steel.