Speaking during the company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, chief executive officer Michael Garcia said Algoma Steel has more or less completed all of the remaining tasks on the plate mill upgrade and is on track to start commissioning work in the fourth calendar quarter of this year. 

“This is a truly an exciting time in Sault Ste. Marie as we continue to see the skyline change at the site of the EAF,” Garcia said, noting that the EAF building has been closed in. “Every day that goes by derisks the project and brings us another step closer to being one of the greenest producers of steel in North America.” 

The goal is to begin production early next year and shut down its blast furnace. 

As for the plate mill, the project schedule called for a multiweek outage later this year to complete the work. However, the company accelerated the effort, with just about all of the remaining projects finished off during a three-week outage in the first fiscal quarter. 

The project, which focused on improving quality and productivity, included a new primary descaler, dividing shear, cooling bed units and a hot leveler.