Posted on 27 Apr 2020
US Steel is set to cut additional blast furnace capacity at its Mon Valley location outside of Pittsburgh amid depressed demand conditions, according to multiple market sources. Additional supply curtailments are expected at its Gary Works location in Indiana, they said.
The steelmaker is set to take the No. 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley works offline by the end of next week, according to the sources. The blast furnace has an annual rated capacity of 1.09 million st and is one of two at the mill.
There are no plans to take the smaller No. 3 blast furnace offline at the mill at this time, the sources said.
Gary Works' No. 6 blast furnace was also expected to be taken offline, leaving only the No. 14 furnace running at the location, according to sources. The No. 6 furnace has an annual rated capacity of 1.23 million st, according to the Association for Iron & Steel Technology.
US Steel already announced it would be idling the No. 4 and No. 8 furnaces at the facility over the past month, with restarts dependent on improved market demand.
A buy-side source said a US Steel contact confirmed only three blast furnaces would remain operational after the adjustments. The three furnaces expected to remain operational were at Mon Valley, Gary and the Granite City works in Illinois.
The Granite City facility has two blast furnaces. The company said in the statement announcing the two Gary idlings that it would be idling blast furnace "A" immediately.
A spokeswoman for US Steel said the company does not comment on rumors or speculation.
Source:S&P Global Platts
