Steel Mills

U.S. Steel Košice BF No. 3 Idled Until Sept. for Maintenance

Written by Michael Cowden

July 27, 2023

U.S. Steel has temporarily idled the No. 3 blast furnace at its steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, for annual maintenance.

A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said the furnace would remain idled until early September.

The outage had been planned in advance for the summer, which is typically the best time for the company to conduct maintenance, the spokesperson said.

U.S. 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 – the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 – 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, according to its website.

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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