Steel Mills
SDI Sinton Hot Mill Down for Next 2-4 Weeks
Written by Becca Moczygemba
July 7, 2023
Steel Dynamics (SDI) announced a two- to four-week outage on the hot mill at its flat-rolled steel mill in Sinton, Texas.
The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker said it expected the hot mill to restart before July 30.
The company said in a release on Friday, July 7, that the outage, which was unplanned, resulted from “caster shear equipment issues” that occurred on July 1.
Expenses to repair the problem should be less than $1 million, SDI said.
The Sinton mill will continue to operate its cold mill and coating lines during the hot mill outage, the company said.
All lead times for Sinton were listed as “closed” or “inquire” in a lead time sheet released from SDI on Friday.
The facility has grappled with production issues for some time.
SDI announced the Sinton mill in July 2019 and had initially hoped that it would begin operations by mid-2021. But the startup of the hot end was delayed for various reasons, including severe flooding.
Company executives said in a first-quarter earnings call in January of this year that supply chain issues, notably for bearings and rolls, continued to limit production at Sinton. But in SDI’s second-quarter earnings call, in April, executives said those problems had been resolved and that the mill could reach full-year capacity utilization of approximately 80%.
By Becca Moczygemba, becca@steelmarketupdate.com
Becca Moczygemba
Read more from Becca MoczygembaLatest in Steel Mills
Cliffs talks DOE funding, blast furnace relining schedule
The future of two projects supported in part by funding through the Department of Energy remains uncertain.
Cleveland-Cliffs open to asset sales
Meanwhile, its Canadian operations have been hurt by the broader tariffs proposed by the United States.
As Q1 loss balloons, Cliffs pledges to cut costs, streamline operations
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. gushed red ink in the first quarter, and pledged to stem the bleeding by idling inefficient, “loss-making operations” and increasing focus on its core automotive business.
Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.
CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.