Republic Steel Executive Vice President-Commercial Ted Thielens said this week that the company’s new EAF is almost ready to resume production after weeks of repairs necessitated by a fire on November 30 that destroyed control equipment. Damage was estimated to be millions of dollars, and five people wee injured in the blaze.
“Regarding the new Lorain EAF, we are nearly complete with the cleanup and repair of equipment, and will begin the commissioning process next week,” Thielens said. “We expect to actual start up the EAF, steel refining and the billet caster in February; followed by the bloom caster in March.”
The new furnace is an $85 million project that has been in the works for several years. The fire occurred four days after the furnace ran its first heat, spreading into the first and second floors of the four-story concrete facility. Wire trays and wiring running to carbon/lime silos also were damaged, according to the official damage report.
