Steel Products
North Star BlueScope EAF Outage Will Not Impact Customers
Written by John Packard
March 8, 2019
On Wednesday, North Star BlueScope experienced issues with the lining in one of its electric arc furnaces, causing the company to take the furnace down for repairs. According to a North Star executive with whom Steel Market Update spoke with this morning, the furnace will be back up today (Friday) with no impact to any customer orders.
“If the customers didn’t read about it, they wouldn’t have known it had happened,” said the executive. North Star BlueScope has two EAFs at the Delta, Ohio, facility. “We can make a whole lot more than half the tons with just one furnace. We just run the second furnace hard. It’s really no big deal.”
SMU was told that the company was running ahead of schedule on their orders. To ensure there will not be any production shortage issues, a planned down day for maintenance scheduled for next week will be “pulled up” (the maintenance is being done on the furnace as they repair the lining issue).
With its two EAFs, North Star BlueScope produces 2.1 million tons of hot rolled coil annually.
{loadposition reserved_message}

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products

U.S. Steel to halt slab conversion at Granite City Works
U.S. Steel said it plans to reduce slab consumption at its Granite City Works near St. Louis, a company spokesperson said on Monday. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker will shift the production and processing of steel slabs to its Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh and its Gary Works near Chicago. Citing a United Steelworkers (USW) union memo, […]

SMU Week in Review: September 1-5
Here are highlights of what’s happened this past week and a few upcoming things to keep an eye on.

HR Futures: Market finds footing on supply-side mechanics
As Labor Day marks the transition into fall, the steel market enters September with a similar sense of change. Supply-side fundamentals are beginning to show signs of restraint: imports are limited, outages loom, and production is capped, setting the stage for a market that feels steady on the surface but still unsettled underneath.

Beige Book: US markets remain cautious amidst volatile pricing environment
Sluggish economic activity across the US was largely attributed to uncertainty caused by tariff policies and growing cost pressures, according to the US Federal Reserve’s (The Fed) latest Beige Book report. The Fed’s latest economic report, posted on Sept. 3, consists of economic findings from the six weeks preceding Aug. 25 throughout 12 districts. Economic […]

Rig count dips again in both US and Canada
Oil and gas drilling activity waned in the US and Canada this past week. Ticking own for the second straight week in both regions.