Posted on 28 Jul 2023
The completion of an electric arc furnace (EAF) being built at steelmaker ArcelorMittal's Calvert, Alabama, joint venture mill is being pushed back by a year because of construction delays and labor shortages.
The 1.5mn metric tonnes (t)/yr EAF is now expected to be completed in the second half of 2024, a year after its original target completion date of the second half of 2023.
The project, originally set to cost $775mn, will now cost $1bn.
A second 1.5mn t/yr EAF continues to be studied for the site, which currently has a 5.3mn t/yr rerolling mill that relies entirely on outsourced slabs.
The Calvert mill is a 50:50 joint venture with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel.
The Calvert mill's second quarter production was 1.2mn t, an increase of 6.3pc compared with the prior year. Shipments rose by 3pc to 1.16mn t.
Compared with the first quarter, production fell by 2.3pc while shipments slipped by 1.1pc.
Total second quarter shipments for ArcelorMittal's North American region rose by 6.2pc compared with the prior year to 2.6mn t. The steel shipments include 360,000t of slabs sourced for Calvert, nearly double the volume compared with the prior year. Through the first half of the year slab shipments have increased by 26pc to 834,000t.
Crude steel production increased by 9.8pc to 2.24mn t after production in the second quarter of 2022 was affected by labor actions in Mexico and maintenance at its Canadian operations.
Source:Argus Media
