US Steel began operating its new electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its Fairfield, Alabama plant last week.
According to the steelmaker’s announcement on Oct 27, it started up the arc at EAF No 1 and begun melting steel scrap, while tapping its first heat of liquid steel on Oct 20. The company’s vice president, Douglas Matthews, said that the corporation’s first EAF is a step in a more sustainable direction for steel production.
The Birmingham EAF will have an annual capacity of 1.6mn mt of tubular steel products. The plant has been co-developed with Big River Steel, which, according to media reports, US Steel is in the process of acquiring. Construction restarted in October last year, after a 10-month halt due to low demand.
US Steel is one of the largest steelmakers in North America, with an annual production capacity of 22mn mt in value-added sheets and tubular products, serving the automotive, construction, oil and gas, and container industries.