Republic Steel, a provider of special-bar-quality (SBQ) steel, started hot commissioning of its new electric-arc furnace (EAF) in Lorain, Ohio. The initial heats will be cast into 6-inch x 6-inch billets and will be rolled on the 9/10-inch rolling mill at the plant. Production on the billet caster is expected to ramp up over the next several months, with bloom cast production beginning in February 2014. The $85 million investment will provide more than 1 million tons of steel per year for the production of bloom and billet cast semi-finished, bar and coil products. The project will create approximately 450 full-time jobs over the next several years, and the existing 489 jobs at the facility will be retained.

Republic Steel’s new EAF will supply both the bloom and billet casters enabling the high-quality production of SBQ bar and coil from 0.295 to 6.5 inches in diameter. Features of the furnace include: a 150-ton heat size, eccentric bottom tapping (EBT), an exchangeable upper/lower shell, a 120/135-MVA furnace transformer, current-conducting arms, oxy-fuel burners, carbon and lime injection systems, a temperature/sampling system, and level-1 and level-2 automation.