Restart of BOF shop at ISG indicates re-emerging steel sector

摘要

New York-The restart of a basic furnace shop and continuous caster at International Steel Group's Cleveland Works operation in Cleveland, Ohio, shows that the US integrated steel sector appears to be re-emerging in a sustained recovery after years of plant closings, bankruptcies and massive layoffs, ferroalloys suppliers to ISG and other steel producers pointed out last week. ISG, which will be the largest US integrated producer if its proposed acquisition of bankrupt bankrupt Weirton Steel closes as planned this spring, announced earlier this month that it would spend $10-mil to restart the BOF shop and caster at the "West Side" sector of Cleveland Works, adding 60,000st/month of steel slab production. Cleveland Works is the remnants of the now-defunct LTV Steel which ISG acquired in 2001 after it emerged as a new integrated player in the US industry. The new production is expected to begin in May and 140 laid-off steelworkers are being rehired. ISG's current production capacity is more than 18-mil st/year of flat-rolled steel, just behind the largest US integrated producer, US Steel, which is at nearly 20-mil st/year.