US Steel will restart the No. 8 blast furnace at its Gary Works in Indiana on August 1 to meet increased demand from contracted business, the company said July 22.

"As a major supplier of steel for the auto industry, Gary Works is restoring this capacity to satisfy the very strong demand we are seeing from key contract customers with the reemergence of the auto industry," the company said in a statement. "This action also supports the continued demand we are experiencing from appliances, packaging and construction."

The No. 8 BF – which has a rated capacity of 1.07 million st/year, according to data from the Association for Iron and Steel Technology – was temporarily idled in mid-March amid lower demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and related automotive production stoppages.

In late June, US Steel announced the restart of the No. 6 BF at Gary, citing increased customer demand. No. 6, which was temporarily idled in late April, has an annual rated capacity of 1.23 million st, according to the AIST data.

The Gary Works, US Steel's largest mill, has four blast furnaces and produces sheet, strip mill and tin products. The No. 14 BF, which has an annual rated capacity of 2.54 million st according to the AIST, has continued to operate, while the No. 4 furnace, which has a rated capacity of 1.36 million st/year, was idled in March.