The former National Forge melt shop, which was acquired by Ellwood Group, Inc. in 2003, is now in production as Ellwood National Steel (ENS) in . It has brought some 50,000 annual tons of capacity to the forging ingot marketplace.
With an investment of $12 million in construction and equipment, ENS is now producing electric furnace, vacuum-degassed, bottom-poured carbon and low alloy steel ingots in 45-ton heat lots. Ingot sizes include 16, 21, 24, 31, and 39 in. in diameters. According to company officials, the production quality, chemistry control, and hydrogen removal have been excellent.
After collecting the emissions data necessary to secure the appropriate Pennsylvania DEP permits, ENS will submit an application to raise its annual capacity to 150,000 tons. If the permit process goes as planned, there will be a state-of-the-art ladle furnace in operation at ENS in the second quarter of 2006. Orders for major long lead-time components such as the substation step-down transformer, the ladle furnace transformer, and the ladle induction stirrer have already been placed.
This new equipment will allow ENS to produce steel in world-class fashion, and the increased production should solve any forging ingot supply problems in North America for the foreseeable future.