Algoma Steel restarts blast furnace

Canada-based Algoma Steel Group Inc. says it has completed the repair and restart process for its blast furnace at its Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, steelmaking campus.

The furnace was temporary idled after a Feb. 7 incident the company describes as having taken place at the “north cast house of the blast furnace complex, where the company believes slag made contact with moisture in the hot iron trough.”

According to Algoma, 12 workers were affected by the incident and five were treated at a regional hospital and released, according to the company.

“The hazards associated with working with molten metal are well known to us and we have comprehensive training and procedures to ensure the safety of our operations,” says Algoma CEO Michael Garcia. “Our investigation is ongoing to fully understand what happened. Our first and primary concern is the health and safety of our employees, and we are thankful for the rapid and professional response of our first responders.”

The Feb. 7 incident follows another one that took place Jan. 20. In that incident, Algoma says “a structure supporting utilities piping collapsed,” and the company also is investigating those circumstances.

The Algoma Steel blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) operations in Ontario are expected to be shuttered permanently by the end of this year. The company is engaged in an estimated $875 million project to install electric arc furnace (EAF) technology in Sault Ste. Marie.

In comments accompanying its fiscal year 2024 third-quarter results, Algoma writes, “We believe that we remain on track for commissioning late in calendar 2024.

Regarding its planned EAF steelmaking capacity, Algoma says the facility is expected to reach an annual raw steel production capacity of approximately 3.7 million tons, matching its downstream finishing capacity, and to generate an approximately 70 percent reduction in the steel producer’s annual carbon emissions.

Ferrous scrap and recycled content are expected to play a major role in Algoma’s steelmaking post-EAF conversion. In late 2021, Brampton, Ontario-based Triple M Metal and Algoma announced they had entered into a joint venture, known as ATM Metals Inc.

That JV, the two companies say, has been designed to source prime ferrous scrap and other iron units to meet Algoma’s melt shop needs after the EAF conversion.

In its most recently reported financial quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2023, Algoma reported a net loss of nearly $85 million. Garcia cites “a challenging backdrop that included the remaining impact of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and a heavy seasonal maintenance quarter” as factors.

He adds, “Improved market fundamentals coupled with the settlement of the strike [last] October led to a rebound in pricing which, based on the lagging nature of our order book, is expected to positively impact pricing realizations beginning in our fiscal fourth quarter.” Algoma’s fiscal fourth quarter runs from Jan. 1 to March 31.