The new pig caster at Gary Works is show. Staff photo by Joseph S. Pete
U.S. Steel’s new pig iron facility at Gary Works steel mill recently reached a major milestone when the $60 million pig caster produced its first batch of pig iron.
It has since cast several full ladles, totaling more than 1,000 tons of pig iron.
Scott Buckiso, a U. S. Steel senior vice president and the chief manufacturing officer of the North American Flat-Rolled Segment, said the achievements were months ahead of schedule.
“Congratulations to the entire team at Gary Works on achieving this latest milestone," he said. "Thanks to strong leadership and tremendous collaboration across the plant and at the project site, we’re well on our way to delivering on a key aspect of our Best for All strategy and doing so safely, ahead of schedule and on budget.”
U.S. Steel continues to ramp up the pig caster at the steel mill at 1 N. Broadway in downtown Gary. It plans to begin full production sometime in the first half of next year.
The new pig caster converts iron ore, hauled by lake freighters across Lake Michigan, into pig iron to feed its new electric arc furnaces in Arkansas as well as its blast furnaces.
U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt visited the steel mill on the Lake Michigan lakefront earlier this year for the groundbreaking of the project. He said it would "create the necessary material for our lower-emissions electric arc furnaces" and "is the perfect example of combining the best of integrated and mini-mill technologies."
It is supplied by iron ore from U.S. Steel's mines in Minntac and Keetac in Northern Minnesota's Iron Range. It will produce up to 500,000 tons of pig iron a year, producing 50% of the metallics needed for the steelmaker's new Big River Steel Works.
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