JSW Ohio Casts First Steel from Reborn EAF

There is a “new domestic” steel minimill capable of producing 1.5 million tons per year of steel from scrap. On Friday, JSW USA restarted the electric arc furnace at the JSW Ohio steel plant at Mingo Junction and cast their first domestically produced slab. “The last month has been incredibly butt hard work,” said JSW USA CEO John Hritz. “Now we will be a melt and manufacturer.”

The process of bringing up the 14-year-old EAF after an almost 10-year hiatus was no small feat. Severstal shut the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Mingo Junction furnace down in February 2009 due to poor business conditions associated with the Great Recession. The furnace was originally going to be brought back online by JSW Ohio in November of this year, but suffered a number of setbacks as various contractors put the finishing touches on the EAF, ladle furnace, caster and surrounding equipment.