WCI Steel, Inc. announced that iron production at its blast furnace has resumed after the successful completion of a $15.3 million reline.

The scope of the 42-day reline included replacement of the brick and refractory lining, installation of a new tuyere jacket, replacement of copper mantle plates and copper stack cooling plates, improvements to the water distribution system and repairs to the gas cleaning system. The furnace was blown in Saturday and molten iron was expected to be transported to the basic oxygen furnace on Monday for conversion to molten steel.

"The reline was completed on time and on budget, thanks to the work of our blast furnace, engineering and plant services teams and our partnership with our main contractor, Graycor," said Patrick G. Tatom, WCI's President and CEO. "We are now focused on returning to full production and servicing our customer base."

Employees will be recalled as downstream units restart sequentially when steel is received to process. "The cooperation and support of our employees, vendors and customers during this major outage has been gratifying and greatly appreciated," Tatom said.

WCI completed numerous other maintenance projects throughout the plant during the reline, including the reline of the No. 2 vessel at the basic oxygen furnace, furnace maintenance at the hot strip mill and generator and motor repairs at the tandem mill.

WCI is an integrated steelmaker producing more than 185 grades of custom and commodity flat-rolled steel at its Warren, Ohio facility. WCI products are used by steel service centers, convertors and the automotive and construction markets. The company has approximately 1,650 employees.