Posted on 13 Apr 2020
US Steel has temporarily idled the blast furnace #8 at its Gary Works in Gary, Indiana, amid lower market demand, a company spokeswoman said Friday.
The furnace #8 -- which has a rated capacity of 1.07 million st, according to data from the Association for Iron and Steel Technology -- has been banked for flexibility to restart based on market demand, US Steel spokeswoman Meghan Cox said.
"We are not in a position to speculate about the length of the idling," she said. "There are no immediate impacts to employees, but we will continue to evaluate in line with future conditions."
US Steel restarted the previously idled furnace #8 in late 2019 as the company was taking down the furnace #4 at Gary for planned maintenance in early 2020.
Gary Works, US Steel's largest manufacturing plant, produces sheet products, strip mill product and tin products.
US Steel has idled multiple blast furnaces in recent weeks amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In late March, the company said it would immediately idle the blast furnace #4 at Gary. It also temporarily idled the A blast furnace at its Granite City Works outside of St. Louis.
The company also announced an indefinite temporary idle of its Lone Star, Texas, and Lorain, Ohio, tubular mills amid challenging market conditions in the oil and gas industry.
US Steel previously said it plans to slash its capital spending by $150 million to $750 million in 2020, with the reduction set to delay certain projects, including the company's investment at its Mon Valley Works and planned hot-strip mill upgrades at Gary Works.
Source:S&P Global Platts
