WCI Steel furnace back in business

WARREN — Production at WCI Steel is slowly ramping up after damage to its blast furnace was repaired.

Crews started loading the blast furnace with coke, iron ore and limestone Sunday.

The blast furnace has been down since Nov. 9 when a fire started in the hydraulic rooms on the main deck.

While repairs have been completed, the company will need some time to return to full production, said Tim Roberts, a company spokesman.

The furnace is expected to produce molten iron of satisfactory quality by late TuesdayThe basic oxygen furnace, which turns the iron into steel, and the caster, which produces steel slabs, are expected to be restarted later this week.

Those operations have been down since the fire.

The company’s rolling mill continued operating until this past Wednesday using slabs that had been in inventory. The rolling mill may be restarted on a limited basis next week, Roberts said.

For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.