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The Dripby Mark Reutter10:32 amMay 9, 20110

RG Steel restarts blast furnace at Sparrows Point

UPDATE: On Wednesday, May 11, Sparrows Point produced its first steel in 9 months. It was a small test run of slabs. “I think we’re back in business,” said one proud employee. After building up inventory, commercial production is scheduled to begin June 6, but may be moved forward, sources tell this website.


The towering “L” blast furnace was restarted after midnight today “without a hitch,” according to an observer, heralding the return to steelmaking at Sparrows Point after a nine-month shutdown.

Sparrows Point’s new general manager, Glenn G. Mikaloff, and John Goodwin, CEO of RG Steel, observed the furnace’s preparation last night and shook hands with the crew as the furnace was successfully tested and the “hot blast” administered to the 180-foot-high structure.

Over the next 36 hours, the furnace will melt thousands of tons of iron ore and coke in order to make “pig iron,” the first step toward producing steel at the mill.

RG Steel, which purchased Sparrows Point from Severstal in March, sprayed a new liner in the furnace and has installed new blowpipes and tuyeres.

“The furnace is good to go,” one source told The Brew this morning. “The men are glad to be back to work and eager to go on with their lives.”

About 500 workers, who had been on long-term layoff, are returning to the Baltimore County steel mill, the region’s biggest industrial employer.

Once the L furnace is fully blown in, it will operate around the clock and produce about 8,000 tons of hot iron a day, one of the biggest operations of its kind in North America.

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