WCI blast furnace down for two more weeks
WCI blast furnace down for two more weeks
WARREN — The blast furnace at WCI Steel will remain idle for two more weeks as repairs are made after a fire a week ago.
The hot strip mill and finishing areas are continuing to operate by using steel slabs that already had been produced, said Tim Roberts, a mill spokesman.
He said he couldn’t estimate how long the operating parts of the mill would continue to run.
The blast furnace produces iron, which is turned into steel in the basic oxygen furnace.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated but it is believed to have started in two hydraulic rooms on the main deck of the furnace, he said. The fire occurred Nov. 9.
Roberts said about 100 workers are affected by the idling of the furnace, but there have been no layoffs.
WCI’s labor contract calls for workers with at least three years’ service to be paid 40 hours a week. Roberts said no decision has been made regarding layoffs of workers with less than three years service.