Pittsburgh — JSW USA is prepared to cast the first heat at its Mingo Junction, Ohio electric arc furnace mill the week of November 19, sources have indicated. The 1.6 million st/year EAF was originally installed in 2004 but has not been in operation since 2009.

India-based JSW announced the acquisition of the mill in March for $80.85 million. The mill began looking to secure ferrous scrap soon thereafter and scrap suppliers indicated the mill has around 30,000 long tons of material on the ground and is seeking to purchase an additional 50,000 lt in December.

JSW USA recently issued scrap specifications to suppliers and the mill is expected to be a major consumer of prime scrap, accounting for possibly 50-60% of its melt, according to suppliers.

The specifications, reviewed by Platts, were for grades including plate & structural scrap, shredded scrap, No. 1 busheling/shredded clips, pipe busheling, No. 1 industrial bundles and No. 1 heavy melt. Scrap can be received by rail, barge and truck. JSW USA has not signed an exclusive agency deal for scrap procurement and is purchasing from various third-party suppliers and brokers.

At its peak, the mill was buying as much as 120,000 lt of scrap a month in 2007 as part of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel.

In late August, a shipment of approximately 38 mt of graphite electrodes arrived from China into Seattle with JSW Steel USA Ohio listed as the consignee, according data from Panjiva, a division of S&P Global Market Intelligence. More recently electrodes arrived in shipments of 28 mt, 8 mt and 18 mt from Germany into Philadelphia from October 15-29 with JSW Steel USA Ohio listed as the consignee.

The facility has been rolling outside slabs on its 3 million short tons/year 80-inch hot-strip mill.

-- Nicholas Tolomeo, nicholas.tolomeo@spglobal.com

-- Edited by Tom Balcerek, newsdesk@spglobal.com