Steel Mills

ArcelorMittal USA to Shut Down BF #3 at Indiana Harbor

November 12, 2019

ArcelorMittal USA will shut down its blast furnace #3 at Indiana Harbor West. The furnace has reached the end of its current operational life and will be taken down in a safe and orderly fashion, said a spokesperson for the company. The furnace could be restarted in the future “if customer demand merits the necessary capital investments for a new campaign.”

AMIndHarb The removal of the BF #3 production capacity will not impact AM’s ability to meet current customer demand. The 35 employees at the blast furnace operations will be reassigned to other positions at Indiana Harbor. No layoffs are anticipated.

“We are not idling the furnace and it should not be reported as an idling, which is something you might do purely for market reasons,” said the ArcelorMittal spokesperson in a statement to SMU. “It is being taken down because it has reached the end of its current campaign and requires significant capital investment for continued operation.”

Indiana Harbor will continue operations with blast furnaces #7 and #4 with a combined daily capacity of 16,400 tons. Blast furnace #3 had a capacity of 4,300 net tons per day.