Steel Products Prices North America
USS Košice Running All Three Blast Furnaces as of This Week
Written by Michael Cowden
January 23, 2023
US Steel is running all three blast furnaces at its steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, company spokespeople said.
“I can confirm that all three blast furnaces have been in operation since the start of this week,” one said in an email to SMU.
The Slovakian subsidiary of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker restarted the No. 1 furnace in early January. The No. 1 furnace at Košice was temporarily idled in early December in response to soaring energy prices, low demand, and surging imports.
The No. 2 furnace, meanwhile, had been left idled but that is no longer the case. The company in September pulled forward a 60-day planned outage on the No. 2 furnace. The furnace then remained down.
The spokespeople declined to provide detail on why the idled furnaces had restarted or where raw materials for them were being sourced.
Company executives noted a challenging market in Europe in the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call in late October. President and CEO David Burritt said then that US Steel Košice faced strong headwinds from high raw material and energy costs, buyer destocking, and the continuing war in neighboring Ukraine. The company will release fourth-quarter earnings on after markets close on Thursday, Feb. 2.
US Steel Košice bills itself as the largest steelmaker in Europe, employing nearly 9,000 people and producing approximately 4.5 million tons of steel annually. The facility sports three blast furnaces and makes a full range of flat-rolled steel, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, coated, and tin mill products. It also makes electrical steels and spiral-welded pipes, per its website.
By Michael Cowden, michael@steelmarketupate.com

Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

SMU Price Ranges: HR slips, hopes for Q4 rebound still standing
SMU’s price ranges were mixed again this week as the market continues to seek a floor amid industry hopes for a Q4 rebound.

Nucor’s hot band list price holds at $875/ton
Nucor held its hot-rolled coil list price flat again this week, according to its Monday, Sept. 15 consumer spot price (CSP) notice.

Market says cutting interest rates will spur stalled domestic plate demand
Market sources say demand for domestic plate refuses to budge despite stagnating prices.

SMU Price Ranges: Some predict bottom is near as big discounts dry up
Sheet prices were mixed this week as some mills continued to offer significant discounts to larger buyers while others have shifted toward being more disciplined, market participants said.

SMU Price Ranges: Tags mixed as uncertainty weighs on market
SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price held steady this week while prices for other sheet and plate products declined.