Big River Steel has started the second electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its flat-rolled steel making plant in Arkansas on Wednesday.
The second EAF at the facility has now been commissioned by Big River and the steelmaker is now working toward an aggressive production ramp up, expecting the plant to reach its full capacity of 3.3mn mt per year in the next five months. Notably, the company has beaten the January 27, 2021 deadline for the completion of the second EAF.
US Steel, which holds 49pc of Big River, announced the completion of the $700mn construction stage, followed by the startup of its 1.6mn mt per annum EAF No. 1 at the Fairfield, Alabama site in late October.
Once the target capacity is attained, Big River Steel will produce about 5,000mt of steel per employee annually, up 66pc from current output level of 3000mt.