Mittal Steel has elected to restart a blast furnace in its East Chicago, Ind., facility at about the time another is going down in Cleveland. The moves are part of the company's ongoing effort to balance its supply of steel with the demand for its products in the marketplace and maintenance needs for various ironmaking and steelmaking equipment.

John Mang, Executive Vice President—Operations West, said IH3 blast furnace at Mittal Steel USA–Indiana Harbor will be restarted in mid-October. Located on the west side of the Indiana Harbor Canal, this blast furnace typically produces about 4,000 tons a day. It has been idle since early May.

"Fortunately, Mittal has the flexibility to fine-tune the maintenance needs in various plants and the production required by our order book," Mang said. Steel made from the iron produced in the blast furnaces can be apportioned across the country through centralized sales and marketing and efficient facility loading, he said.

Mittal Steel Co. NV is the world's largest and most global steel company. The company has operations in 14 countries, on four continents. Mittal Steel encompasses all aspects of modern steelmaking, to produce a comprehensive portfolio of both flat and long steel products to meet a wide range of customer needs. It serves all the major steel consuming sectors, including automotive, appliance, machinery and construction. For 2004, Mittal Steel had revenues of US$22.2 billion and steel shipments of 42.1 million tons.

Mittal Steel USA, formed in April 2005, consists of Ispat Inland Inc. and Mittal Steel USA ISG Inc., formerly International Steel Group. It has operations in 12 states of the United States and in Trinidad and Tobago.