Speaking during the steelmaker’s third-quarter earnings call, executives said work on the caster, when completed, will become an important new source of iron units for foundries and electric arc furnace steelmakers who face a scrap supply squeeze.  

Completion of the caster will allow the company to check another box on its list of major capital projects, the most significant of which was finished in October. That project, the reline of its Lake Erie Works blast furnace in Ontario, is expected to give the company up to 300,000 tons of additional capacity and lower hot-rolled coil costs by up to CA$30/ton. 

Stelco executive chairman and chief executive Alan Kestenbaum said completion of the project couldn’t have come at a better time – it was finished just as sheet prices began to take off.  

“We have completed it just in time to enjoy the current strong pricing environment. We are now deploying our assets to take full advantage of increasing demand in this improved pricing environment.” 

He said Stelco has sold out capacity for the fourth quarter and is now booking orders for first-quarter delivery.

“Our end markets are strong,” he said. 

He also said industry consolidation is creating some new opportunities. 

“The consolidation in the industry that has occurred has given us a bit of an opening in terms of some customers wanting to explore new supply opportunities,” he said.