Speaking during a conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings on Wednesday, executives said an extended third-quarter outage has been planned for the Mansfield stainless facility to allow for the installation of new equipment in the meltshop and at the caster.

“This initiative will result in improved product and operational yields, higher throughput as well as the opportunity for enhanced product mix through an expansion of our capabilities,” said AK Steel chief financial officer Jaime Vasquez.

Additionally, the company said it is bringing down the Middletown blast furnace for a routine shotcreting the furnace lining’s interior and for other work, including replacement of a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) vessel.

That outage will carry into October.

The company said it expects its 2017 capital spending to amount to between US$140 million and US$160 million.