Republic Steel, the nation's leading provider of special bar quality (SBQ) steel, announced it has initiated hot commissioning of its new electric arc furnace (EAF) in Lorain.

The initial heats will be cast into 6-inch x 6-inch billets and will be rolled on the 9/10-inch rolling mill, also at the Lorain plant. Production on the billet caster is expected to ramp up over the next several months, with bloom cast production beginning in February 2014.

This USD 85 million capital project will provide more than 1 million tons of steel annually for the production of bloom and billet cast semi-finished, bar and coil products. The project ultimately will create nearly 450 full-time jobs over the next several years, bringing more than $1 billion dollars in annual economic activity to Ohio. The existing 489 jobs in Lorain will be retained.

Republic Steel's new EAF will supply both the bloom and billet casters enabling the high-quality production of SBQ bar and coil from .295-inch to 6-1/2-inch diameter, and 6-inch, 10-1/2-inch, 11-5/8-inch, 12-1/4-inch and 13-1/2-inch diameter seamless tube rounds. Features of the new state-of-the art EAF include: a 150-ton heat size, eccentric bottom tapping (EBT), an exchangeable upper/lower shell, a 120/135 MVA furnace transformer, current-conducting arms, oxy-fuel burners, carbon and lime injection systems, a temperature/sampling system, and level 1 and level 2 automation. Major contracts for the project were awarded to SMS Concast (for EAF process equipment), Siemens (for the yard substation and related equipment), and TES (for the furnace transformer).