Steel Mills
April 8, 2014
US Steel Gary Works Operating One Blast Furnace
Written by John Packard
US Steel has been very cooperative answering Steel Market Update inquiries regarding the status of their Gary Works and Great Lakes steel mills. Both mills have issues regarding steelmaking operations. Because the steel industry is prone to over-react when production issues hit any mill we thought it prudent to try to understand to the best of our knowledge what the issues are and how will they impact the overall steel market. The information SMU is about to share with our readers is from U.S. Steel and not the rumor mill.
Gary Works, which is the largest production facility for US Steel, normally operates four blast furnaces. The largest blast furnace is #14 which, according to AIST data, is capable of producing 9,200 tons per day of pig iron. The other three furnaces (#4, #6, #8) are rated at approximately 3,000 to 4,500 tons of pig iron per day (combined about 11,300 tons based on AIST 2009 data – the tons could be higher with improvements made since then). Again, data shown is for pig iron. To get steel production, you will need to add approximately 25 percent scrap charge, so actual steel production numbers are higher than the pig iron production referenced.
