Steel Mills

Furnace Incident at AK Steel Injures Two Employees
Written by Sandy Williams
January 21, 2016
A reaction in one of the furnaces in the melt shop at AK Steel Butler led to two employees receiving non-life threatening injuries on Wednesday afternoon.
According to AK Steel spokesperson Lisa Jester, reports that the furnace exploded are exaggerated.
“To be clear, the reaction was inside the furnace and the furnace is intact–it would be inaccurate to say the furnace exploded,” wrote Jester in an email to SMU.
One employee was treated for burns at a local hospital. The other employee was treated on-site for minor injuries.
Although, not classified as an explosion by the company, media reports indicate a portion of the roof blew off from the impact that injured the two workers. The furnace reportedly involved was the 175-ton capacity electric arc furnace.
Officials are investigating the cause of the incident. AK Steel said no interruption to customer orders is expected.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

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.

North Star results improve despite buyer caution as tariffs drive prices higher
North Star BlueScope said it is optimistic that US tariffs will bolster selling prices and tighten the spread the Australia-based steel maker suffered in 2025.

AISI: Domestic steel production edges down
US raw steel production declined last week, according to the latest data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).