China joins in Wheeling-Pitt furnace project

MINGO JUNCTION, Ohio (AP) -- Chinese and U.S. steelmakers often find themselves at odds in the global market, but Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp.'s construction of a massive electric arc furnace shows there is also a mutual reliance.
China is supplying the main components for the furnace, now more than 60 percent complete and on schedule to fire up this fall.
The two main step-down transformers for the furnace were made in Croatia, while other transformers were built in Italy.
But U.S. workers are also getting a piece of the action: Duct work for the emission system was manufactured at Dynasteel in Iuka, Miss.
The $114 million furnace being built in Mingo Junction is the size of several city blocks and is the foundation of Wheeling-Pitt's strategy for long-term survival.
It will give the company, based in Wheeling, W.Va., the flexibility to make steel with either raw materials or scrap as prices for each fluctuate, and will be the only furnace in North America capable of using liquid iron. Wheeling-Pitt employs about 2,800 people.