ArcelorMittal to Restart Indiana Harbor Blast Furnace

(photo courtesy of The Times of Northwest Indiana)

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ArcelorMittal has begun plans to restart a blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report the furnace had been idled in May due to automotive plants shutting down throughout the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ArcelorMittal spokesperson William Steers told the publication, “The flexibility afforded by our ArcelorMittal USA assets allows the company to continue matching production with customer demand.”

Additionally, the company is also making repairs to a blast furnace at its Burns Harbor steel mill, which had been damaged in a July explosion.

“ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor is currently working through repairs on D blast furnace which are anticipated to take a couple of weeks,” Steers told The Times. “We do not anticipate any significant changes in employment as a result of the production changes at these facilities.”

The decision to restart the Indiana Harbor blast furnace follows Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp.’s (NYSE: X) move to bring its No. 6 and No. 8 blast furnaces back online at its Gary Works steel mill.