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
Mexico’s TYASA breaks ground on SBQ rolling mill
Mexican steelmaker Talleres y Aceros (TYASA) broke ground this month on the construction of a new special bar quality (SBQ) rolling mill in the state of Veracruz.
Goncalves sees more US trade actions ahead, says Nippon deal for USS has ‘zero chance’
Cleveland-Cliffs’ Lourenco Goncalves thinks trade measures announced by the US government on Tuesday against China were just the opening salvo in a series of trade actions. Case in point: The Biden administration targeted China’s “unfair” trade policies with additional tariffs on an array of Chinese-made goods - including steel, aluminum, and EVs.
Nucor holds weekly HRC price steady after last week’s cut
Nucor chose to hold its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil steady this week after stunning the market last week with a significant price decline. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday morning that its $760-per-short-ton (st) CSP base price for HR coil is effective immediately. The price is unchanged from the CSP announced on May 6 but down $65/st from $825/st April 29.
Nucor’s Jellison set to retire, Spicer tapped for EVP role
Nucor said EVP Douglas J. Jellison plans to retire on June 8 after more than 33 years with the company. Randy J. Spicer will be promoted to EVP effective May 12.
Republican Senators demand Biden block USS sale to Nippon
Three vocal Republican senators are demanding that President Joe Biden block the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.