Mittal to restart blast furnace at Indiana Harbor East

EAST CHICAGO | The third of three blast furnaces at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor East is being prepared to once again produce iron, according to a union official.

United Steelworkers Local 1010 President Tom Hargrove said employees and the company are in the process of restarting the No. 6 blast furnace, which could be working as early as late next month. He said the blast furnace has been down for a couple years.

ArcelorMittal restarted iron production at its No. 5 blast furnace about a month ago. Hargrove said the No. 5 and 6 blast furnaces can churn out at least 5,000 tons of crude steel a day at peak production. The company's No. 7 blast furnace can produce up to 11,500 tons daily.

Hargrove said the restart could bring back between 75 and 80 jobs because of work at the furnace and auxiliary operations, including trucking and maintenance. He said with the restart, employee safety is still a top priority.

ArcelorMittal spokeswoman Katie Patterson said in a statement that the furnace is being restarted in early October because of improving market demand.

"We are bringing back capacity in line with improving demand, largely due to the technical recovery occurring as inventory destocking nears completion," Patterson said. "However, we do not expect demand to return to the levels seen in 2008 for sometime yet and remain cautiously optimistic for a slow and progressive recovery."

U.S. steel mills operated at about 54 percent capacity in the week ending Aug. 15, up from a 36 percent utilization rate in January, according to the Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute.

United Steelworkers District 7 Director Jim Robinson said he's cautious in predicting a steel industry turnaround although ArcelorMittal restarting operations in Cleveland and U.S. Steel restarting operations in Granite City, Ill. are good signs.

"This recession has been significantly different than past swings in the economy," Robinson said. "I fervently hope things are turning around."