Speaking on the sidelines of AISTech 2022, Crawford Murton, HarbisonWalker International’s director of steel technology applications, said progress on the Alabama One plant is progressing well. 

Equipment installation is on-going, and the project has not experienced any supply chain disruptions, he said. 

HarbisonWalker is investing approximately $25 million in the project, through which it is repurposing its closed plant in Fairfield, Ala. When it reopens, the renovated plant will serve as a manufacturing, service, and distribution hub for steel customers in the southern U.S.  

Although the plant will focus on magnesia-carbon brick for steel ladles, it will have the raw materials on hand to make a range of other steel mill refractory products.  

The plant will open with the capability to produce 15,000 metric tons, but the company plans to eventually double that as additional equipment is added through the next year. 

Murton said the highly automated plant will be one of HarbisonWalker’s most technologically advanced among its production facilities, and will contribute to HWI’s environmental and sustainability goals through energy-efficient operations. 

In addition to manufacturing, the plant also will serve as a service and distribution hub. In fact, the service side of the operation is expected to start in September, in advance of brick manufacturing, said Tim Dobis, director of service solutions.