Canadian steelmaker Stelco has commissioned a new pig iron caster at its Lake Erie facility in Ontario, which is capable of producing 1mn mt of pig iron per year.
The company noted that the supply of ferrous scrap has been under pressure with the rise of electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel production, making pig iron an important alternative. The company plans on capitalizing on this trend as North America moves toward EAF steel.
The company noted that the added capacity will work hand-in-hand with its newly upgraded 300,000nt per year blast furnace, leading to an increase in the overall production of specialized products such as cold-rolled sheet and coated products as well as high strength steel.