Steel Mills
U.S. Steel Plans 25-Day Blast Furnace Outage in May
Written by David Schollaert
March 5, 2021
U.S. Steel plans to take a 25-day outage in May on the No. 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania, a company spokeswoman confirmed.
The outage is part of the steelmaker’s normal maintenance program, she said.
The maintenance is to apply shotcrete–a sprayed concrete–and other standard upkeep, sources said.
Smaller outages are planned ahead of the the 25-day stoppage, probably beginning around March 21.
Most recently, furnace No. 1 had a minor outage in 2020, while furnace No. 3 underwent a major relining during the spring of 2019. The No. 3 blast furnace will be the sole furnace running during the 25-day outage on No. 1 at the Braddock plant, SMU’s source said.
Mon Valley Works is comprised primarily of a coke manufacturing facility in Clairton, Pa., steelmaking operations and slab casting operations in Braddock, Pa., and a rolling mill in West Mifflin, Pa. It also includes a coating operation in Fairless Hills, Pa., near Philadelphia.
The Braddock facility, also known as the Edgar Thomson Plant, has blast furnace capacity of 2.09 million tons per year, according to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology’s 2021 Directory of Iron and Steel Plants. The No. 1 furnace’s annual capacity is 1.09 million tons, and No. 3’s is 1 million tons per year.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Mills
AISI: April mill shipments fall, sheet down YTD
US steel mills saw a decline in shipments from March to April.
Hybar rolls first rebar, ramping up Arkansas mill commissioning
The startup steelmaker produced its first rebar at its greenfield steel mill in Osceola, Ark., marking a key milestone by completing construction in 22 months.
Goncalves: Despite higher tariffs, two Cliffs mills to remain idled
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said he would keep one mill idled and still plans to idle another despite increased protections from Section 232 tariffs doubling to 50%.
Trump says Section 232 tariff on steel, aluminum to double to 50% at Pennsylvania rally celebrating Nippon-USS deal
At a rally celebrating a “planned partnership” between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, President Trump announced higher tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the United States, and revealed few more details on Nippon’s investment in USS’ operations.
CRU: Trump hails a partnership of Nippon with USS
In a social media post, President Donald Trump said a planned partnership between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel will add $14 billion to the US economy and ensure USS remains headquartered in Pittsburgh.