99 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chairman and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves (center), along with local officials, lawmakers and other Cliffs executives, broke ground in April 2018 on the company’s US$700 million hot briquetted iron plant in Toledo, Ohio, USA. By Sam Kusic Supported by higher prices, healthy demand and, in the U.S., favorable trade and tax policy, North American steelmakers found confidence to invest in their facilities in 2018. And invest they have — in the U.S. alone, more than 16 million tons of capacity, either through restarts or expansions, could come on-line in the next few years. The investments are designed to improve efficiencies, allow for production of value- added products and to take share from imports. Here’s a look at some of the projects that have been announced in the North American market. AK Steel Corp. The integrated producer is making strategic capital AK Steel’s Rockport, Ind., facility also will see investment. investments at multiple facilities, focusing on improving There, the company will install a more modern, operational efficiencies and lowering costs. Among environmentally friendly and lower-cost pickling process. the investments is a nearly US$40 million project at its The project is expected to cost US$6 million. Dearborn, Mich., USA, plant. Through the project, the company will make upgrades to the blast furnace and steel Also, AK Steel subsidiary Precision Partners has broken shop, with the end goal of providing both production cost ground on an expansion of one of its facilities to APR and sustainability benefits. accommodate new stamping business. Precision Partners 2019 specializes in the design and engineering of automotive I In Mansfield, Ohio, AK Steel plans to complete a US$13 tooling and dies and the stamping of complex, hard-to- IRON & STEEL TECHNOLOGY million investment in the steel casting area to enable the manufacture automotive components. facility to expand the types of steel produced there and further reduce overall costs. Meanwhile, at its nearby The company said that approximately one-third of its 2019 Coshocton, Ohio, stainless steel finishing facility, the capital budget involves improvements specifically designed company plans to invest US$11 million in a new, state-of- to fundamentally transform its competitive cost position I the-art coil buildup line, a project that will reduce costs and and grow downstream operations. AIST.ORG improve throughput while enhancing product quality. 100 Algoma Steel Inc. plans to invest CA$300 million in its Ontario plant as it looks to expand capacity and product capability. Algoma Steel Inc. After three years of operating under creditor protection, The projects include installation of a second ladle the integrated Canadian plate and sheet producer emerged metallurgy furnace; upgrades to the caster and capacity in November 2018 as an independent entity. As part of its enhancements at its Direct Strip Production Complex; emergence, it has developed a CA$300 million plan to automation upgrades to the plate and strip mills; and new revitalize its steel works in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The plan emissions controls at its coke works. Extensive technology includes a number of projects to expand capacity and upgrades are also planned throughout the steel works. product capability, allowing it to meet growing demand for advanced steel grades. Allegheny Technologies Inc. The Pittsburgh-based stainless and specialty metals producer Announcing the investment project in the spring of 2018, is investing US$95 million in a new isothermal forging press Allegheny Technologies said the three-year project will and associated heat treating capacity at its forged products bring about its fourth isothermal press and allow it to meet AIST.ORG I facility in Wisconsin. new demand arising from the production of next-generation jet engines. ArcelorMittal IRON & STEEL TECHNOLOGY I ArcelorMittal Mexico has begun work on a new 2.5-million- foundations were nearly complete, and building erection 2019 metric-ton hot strip mill at its Lázaro Cárdenas facility was on schedule. Mill cranes have also arrived. APR along the Mexican Pacific coast. As of February, the deep 101 ArcelorMittal is installing new walking beam reheat furnaces at its Contrecoeur-East and Contrecoeur-West long products mills in Quebec. The photo shows construction underway at Contrecoeur-East. The furnace there is to come on-line by year’s end. The project, which includes a 650,000-ton skinpass mill, will energy efficiency while reducing carbon emissions, the allow the plant to roll slabs on-site and take advantage of an company said. anticipated increase in demand from domestic sheet users. It also will allow the company to bring more value-added At the same time, the company is replacing the dust collector products to its offerings and to realize the full production at the Contrecoeur-West steel works, a CA$6 million project potential of its Mexican facilities. that will improve environmental performance. When the project is completed in 2020, ArcelorMittal Elsewhere in Canada, ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P. is nearing Mexico will be able to produce 2.5 million metric tons completion of its hot strip mill modernization project. The of sheet, 1.8 million metric tons of long products and project includes new downcoilers, a new inspection and 1.1 million metric tons of semi-finished slabs. sampling line to reduce manual interactions and save yield, and laminar cooling sprays. The sprays utilize high-pressure, In Canada, work is progressing on nearly CA$160 million ultrafast cooling technology to improve metallurgical worth of upgrades to its Contrecoeur, Que., long products capabilities. The project is intended to improve coil quality mills. for customers, increase the reliability of the coiler area and reduce conversion costs. At its Contrecoeur-East wire rod mill, the company is investing CA$89 million in upgrades that will allow it to The project is expected to be completed in 2020. The strip APR produce larger coils. The investment includes new rolling mill upgrades, along with several others being made to U.S. 2019 stands, a new compactor and a new conveyor. The project plants, are part of a US$500 million package of automotive- I will lift the mill’s capacity by more than 100,000 metric tons focused investments. IRON & STEEL TECHNOLOGY to 560,000 metric tons annually. Those aside, Dofasco also is nearing completion on a In addition, both Contrecoeur-East and the Contrecoeur- US$112 million boiler replacement project. Under the West bar mill are receiving new reheat furnaces, one for project, the company is replacing three boilers with a single each facility. The walking beam furnaces will have capacities high-pressure unit, a 20-mW turbine and water treatment I of 130 metric tons per hour. The furnace replacements are plant. The new boiler will lower nitrogen oxide emissions AIST.ORG expected to cost CA$63 million, and work is to conclude and consume less natural gas. The project is expected to this year. The new furnaces will increase productivity and 102 Big River Steel is adding a second electric arc furnace, caster and strip mill at its Arkansas plant, a project that will take its annual capacity to 3.3 million tons annually. yield 129 mWh of annual electricity savings. Work is to wrap At its Cleveland, Ohio, mill, the company is equipping up this year. the hot-dip galvanizing line with gas jet cooling, enabling production of advanced steel grades. The company expects In the U.S., work continued on the installation of two new that steel from the upgraded line will be available by 2020. walking beam furnaces at the Burns Harbor facility in Indiana. Aside from installation of the furnaces, the project And at the Indiana Harbor facility, the company has installed entails new recuperators and stacks, new foundations, and a tension leveler, quench system and strip transport control an extension of the strip mill building. system on the No. 3 continuous annealing line, allowing it to process high-strength steels in-house. The company said The furnaces, which are replacing three pusher furnaces, it was struggling to consistently control shape on existing aim to improve mill productivity and reduce energy costs. It equipment and had been sending coils to an outside also is intended to improve product surface quality to better processor for tension leveling. But with the new equipment, meet the requirements of its automotive customers. Work is the company will be able to reduce conversion costs and to be completed by the end of next year. improve delivery times. AM/NS Calvert LLC The joint-venture processing plant is this year completing improvements to the galvanneal furnace. The plant is jointly AIST.ORG I upgrades to the No. 2 continuous annealing line and the owned by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo No. 3 hot-dip galvanizing line. Annealing line improvements Metal Corp. include a new pickle nickel section, a final cooling section and hydrogen injection to the rapid cooling section. The improvements allow for production of cold-rolled, quench- and-partition grades. Upgrades to the galvanizing line include steam injection, hydrogen injection to the rapid IRON & STEEL TECHNOLOGY I cooling section, the addition of a partitioning section and 2019 APR 103 California Steel Industries has plans on the drawing board for upgrades to its strip mill and No. 2 galvanizing line. The strip mill upgrades will focus on the finishing stands. The photo shows the finishing mill’s motor room. Big River Steel Big River Steel is doubling down on its Arkansas plant, grain-oriented electrical steels, a product that it might add announcing last year that it would undertake a US$1.2 either through the expansion or a future project, it said. billion expansion of the existing facility.