ArcelorMittal USA experiences explosion at Indiana sheet mill

Pittsburgh — ArcelorMittal USA had an explosion at its Burns Harbor, Indiana, mill on July 16, market sources and videos confirmed to S&P Global Platts.

The explosion was understood to be at the mill's D blast furnace which has a rated annual capacity of 2.48 million mt, according to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology. ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor is located about 40 miles southeast of Chicago along Lake Michigan.

An ArcelorMittal spokesman confirmed the incident which was caused by a stove dome failure and the furnace was safely taken offline. There were no injuries and the cause of the event remains under investigation, according to the spokesman. The steelmaker said it is "creating a timeline for repairs and the company does not anticipate any impact on our ability to meet customer demand."

In late April the steelmaker took down the mill's only other blast furnace for maintenance but it was understood to still be down given depressed market conditions as a result of coronavirus-related demand disruptions.