Mc Louth Steel - Detroit Complex

Detroit Complex

This plant was built by Donald B. McLouth as a small conversion mill on Livernois Avenue in Detroit, MI. The plant was revamped to produce only stainless steel in its later years and was bought by Jones and Laughlin Steel Company in 1981.

The Detroit mill initially consisted of a small reversing hot rolling strip mill with a slab heating furnace. The original hot strip mill was known as the "Coffee Grinder" from the sounds the mill would make. In 1938, the company brought online a single 4-high reversing cold reducing mill with ancillary facilities (annealing and finishing). Throughout the next few years, modifications were made to the equipment and eventually, the company had the capacity to roll 108,000 net tons per year of hot rolled products and 60,000 net tons of cold rolled steel products.

In 1947 McLouth Steel began rolling stainless steel. Two single stand reversing cold reducing mills were installed with the related supplementary equipment. In 1954, $6,000,000 of the $100,000,000 expansion plan for the new Trenton plant was used to install two 4-high reversing cold rolling mills. With this new addition to the Detroit plant, the stainless steel production was increased to 52,000 net tons per year.

The Detroit plant is a finishing facility for sheet and strip products only. Principal operating units are two 50-inch (1,300 mm)., 4-high cold reduction mills, a cold anneal and pickle line, a temper mill, two slitting lines(36in. and 24in.), and a coil polisher. The two 50in. reduction mills, are essentially identical. Both were installed in 1953 by United and combined, they both have an annual capacity of 120,000 tons. The cold anneal and pickle line was installed in 1975 by Production Machinery. The line consists of an entry end washing section to remove rolling oils, an open air annealing furnace where the strip is heated above 1,900 °F (1,040 °C) and three acid pickling tanks followed by rinsing and drying units. Paper is interleaved between the coil wraps at the exit take up reel to avoid surface abrasion.

Coil product was usually shipped from the Detroit plant via truck.