Mills Hoping Blast Furnace Outages Tighten Market

The domestic steel mills are resorting to adjustments in supply as a weapon against the chronic short lead times which are helping to push flat rolled steel prices lower and lower. The heavy lifting is being done by the integrated steel mills, especially by U.S. Steel which has taken three blast furnaces down over the past few weeks.

US Steel has taken down the lone blast furnace at their Fairfield Works facility in Birmingham, Alabama. This furnace is rated at approximately 6,000 tons per day of pig iron capacity and, when combined with their BOF, the mill had a steel making capacity of approximately 2.9 million tons on an annual basis. There is no timetable to return this furnace to production. The Fairfield Works facility is one of the plants where US Steel would like to install an electric arc furnace (EAF) to replace the blast furnace.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a digital operations analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.