Wheeling-Pitt to idle 1899 blast furnace

WHEELING, W.Va. -- A blast furnace that has churned out steel for more than 100 years will fall silent this week as Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. shifts production to a state-of-the-art electric arc furnace.

The No. 1 blast furnace at Wheeling-Pitt's plant in Steubenville, Ohio, began operations in 1899 and is one of the oldest blast furnaces in the nation. It will be shut down Thursday, the company said Tuesday.

The $115 million electronic arc furnace, the cornerstone of Wheeling-Pitt's bankruptcy reorganization plan, was heated for the first time on Nov. 28 and began using hot metal last week.

Although many companies use such furnaces, Wheeling-Pitt is the first in North America to integrate both an electric arc furnace and a blast furnace in steel-making operations.

The combination allows the company operational flexibility regarding raw materials such as scrap steel and coke. Wheeling-Pitt can use the electric arc furnace to produce steel from 100 percent scrap or from as little as 60 percent scrap mixed with blast furnace molten iron.

"With the charging of hot metal into our Consteel EAF and the shutdown of our No. 1 Blast Furnace, Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel has crossed another important threshold toward its transformation into a modern 21st century steelmaker," said Wheeling-Pitt Chairman and CEO James G. Bradley.

Wheeling-Pitt will continue to operate the No. 5 blast furnace at its plant in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and its basic oxygen furnace.

Wheeling-Pitt employs about 2,800 people at plants in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The company was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for nearly three years before it received a $250 million federally guaranteed loan and emerged in August 2003.