AK Steel Changing Strategies |
Thursday, April 23, 2009 8:59:34 AM - Middletown Ohio |
By: Tara Kunkle
With the delays of the new Sun Coke plant and the downturn in the economy, AK Steel is looking for new ways to operate their facilities in order to cut costs and adjust to current demand. In the company’s first-quarter earnings report they show a cut in capital expenditures from $180 million to $100 million. Also of interest is $40 million that is budgeted for maintenance costs that include replacing the hearth on the Middletown Works blast furnace.
Maintenance is still running on schedule and the company will be keeping the Middletown furnace down for 60 days instead of the original 45 due to current business conditions. AK is currently still waiting to install the new electric furnace at the Butler Works from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. In an interview with the Middletown Journal Alan McCoy said that the process usually takes nine months but it has already been a year and a half.
The estimated completion of the Butler expansion is no until 2010. Other problems delaying the project are the SunCoke Energy coking project. Since there is a pending Clean Air Act lawsuit filed by the city of Monroe that is against SunCoke’s current air permit for the plant that company is going to send in an application for a New Source Review permit. This will circumvent Monroe’s issues with netting credits and reduce the time for full release on construction.
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