Furnace Goes Offline

Bethlehem Steel's Indiana furnace is being repaired.

One of the blast furnaces at Bethlehem Steel Corp’s Burns Harbor, Ind., division experienced mechanical problems April 19th. The furnace, capable of producing 6,400 tons of iron a day, is expected to be down for between 3-4 weeks as the steel company, along with equipment supplier Kvaerner Songer, work to repair the furnace..

Repairs on the furnace are expected to begin late this week.

Until the D furnace returns to full production, Bethlehem is expected to meet its steel need by buying slabs and increasing slab production at the company’s Sparrows Point, Md., and Coatesville, Pa., operations.