Incident puts Universal Stainless melt shop out of commission

Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. says a liquid metal spill occurred during operations at its Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, electric arc furnace (EAF) melt shop. The spill, the company says, was caused by a breakthrough at the bottom of a furnace shell.

Cleanup and damage assessment are underway, and the company says it expects melting operations to resume in six to eight weeks, subject to “parts and contractor availability.” Universal says all other operations continue to function as normal, and it does not expect any near-term interruption to product delivery schedules.

“I am grateful no one was injured and there is no environmental impact,” remarks Universal chair, president and CEO Dennis Oates. “We are fully focused on getting melt back into production as soon as possible. As we firm up the recovery plan, we will provide an update when we release our first-quarter results on April 20. We have a record order backlog and remain committed to ensuring our customers are not impacted.”

Universal Stainless makes and markets semifinished and finished specialty steels, including stainless steel, nickel alloys, tool steel and other alloyed steels. The company says its products are used in a variety of industries, including aerospace, power generation, oil and gas and heavy equipment manufacturing.