New furnace means added jobs at Ohio steel plant

9/23/2013

LORAIN, Ohio  — The activation of an $85 million electric arc furnace at a northern Ohio steel plant is expected to add hundreds of jobs at the facility, mostly over the next year.

A company official says more than 100 workers have been added at the Republic Steel plant in Lorain, and eventually it expects to reach about 450.

Republic Steel’s marketing director tells The Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria that it expects to start the furnace before the end of the year.

The furnace will turn melted scrap into liquid steel that will be sold and eventually transformed into solid pipe used in natural gas and oil drilling. The new equipment replaces a blast furnace that was closed five years ago as demand for steel products fell during the recession.