Steel Mills

Algoma Steel temporarily idles blast furnace, local news reports

Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh

February 28, 2025

Algoma Steel temporarily idled its blast furnace in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, this week, according to a local news source.

“We experienced an event at the blast furnace which required a controlled shut down to facilitate repairs,” Laura Devoni, the steelmaker’s director of human resources and corporate affairs, was quoted in SooToday.com, a media outlet also based in Sault Ste. Marie.

“We minimized non-essential staffing levels while repairs were underway to control costs during this period of tariff threats,” Devoni continued. “The blast furnace is operational, and we are in the process of scaling up.”

Algoma’s No. 7 blast furnace has a daily ironmaking capacity of 8,400 short tons, according to SMU’s blast furnace status table. Last year, the furnace was down for three weeks in January/February due to an unplanned outage.

The flat-rolled steelmaker is in the process of shifting away from blast furnace operations to electric-arc furnace steelmaking.

Last month, Algoma said it would indefinitely idle its 106” mill, part of its plate and strip combination facility, as part of the EAF transition.

The company has already begun cold-commissioning its EAF project, with steel production expected by the end of Q1’25.

Stephanie Ritenbaugh

Stephanie Ritenbaugh is a reporter for Steel Market Update. She is an experienced business journalist, holding a variety of positions for trade publications and newspapers, including covering shale development for Gas Business Briefing/Platts and for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She can be reached at stephanie.ritenbaugh@crugroup.com or +1 724-759-7868

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