Indiana led the nation in steel production last year, continuing its reign as the top steelmaking state in the country.
The Hoosier State made more than a fourth of all the steel produced in America on its own.
"Indiana once again led the nation in steel production, continuing a trend it has maintained for several decades," said Sarah Burns, a spokesperson for the American Iron and Steel Institute, the steel industry's trade association.
Indiana has made more steel than any other state since at least 1975, leading the nation for a half-century now. It surpassed Ohio and Pennsylvania, the home of U.S. Steel, while the steel industry was contracting due to foreign imports in the 1970s brought on by the logistical advantages it had from Lake Michigan, which allows lake freighters to haul iron ore cheaply, efficiently and reliably to the Region's steel mills.
Indiana made 22.07 million tons of steel last year, Burns said. That was down slightly from 22.38 million tons in 2023 but up from 21.12 million tons in 2022.
Last year, the country made 87.58 million tons of steel, down slightly from 89.71 million tons in 2023, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
"Indiana boasts large integrated facilities and Electric Arc Furnace facilities that operate at or above the industry average utilization rate of 75%," Burns said. "The Great Lakes offer steel mills the ability to transport iron ore from the mining operations in Minnesota directly to the lakeshore location of the mills."
Indiana also is strategically located near many of the steel industry's biggest customers, including automotive plants in Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky, as well as appliance makers like Whirlpool in Benton Harbor not far across the state line in Southwest Michigan.
Indiana by far has the most productive steel mills in the country. Last year, Indiana produced more than twice as much steel as the second-place steel-producing state, its neighbor to the east.
"Ohio ranks as the second-largest producer, with an output of approximately 10 million tons in 2024," Burns said.
Most of the steel produced in Indiana is made at the hulking integrated steel mills that ring Lake Michigan’s South Shore in Northwest Indiana. Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel operate some of the largest steel mills in the world in the Calumet Region, making metal for automakers in Detroit and across the Midwest, as well as steel for appliances, buildings and many other end uses.
Stretching for seven miles along the Lake Michigan shoreline, Gary Works has been described as the largest steel mill in the world and was such a marvel it was copied by the Soviet Union in Magnitogorsk, which has a steel mill built off the same blueprint. Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor Works is often described as the largest steelmaking complex in North America. It's technically two different steel mills – the former Inland and LTV mills – jutting out on a manmade peninsula in Lake Michigan.
Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana account for about half the blast furnace capacity in the country. They make new or virgin iron that's preferred by automakers because it combines strength and malleability that mini-mills that recycle scrap metal have yet to achieve.
Northwest Indiana's extensive steel industry encompasses smaller steelmakers like NLMK Indiana, steel bar producers like Niagara LaSalle Corporation and steel fabricators like Kenney Metal Products, Green Acre Ironworks, Upright Ironworks, Tube City and Sheet Metal Services.
The Region also is home to many steel service centers that process and distribute steel products. Berlin Metals, Munster Steel, Ryerson, Republic Steel, Alliance Steel, AAA Supply Corp., Kenwai Steel, Ratner Steel Supplies, Crossroads Steel Supply, Adriatic Steel Co., Leeco Steel, Bayshore Metal, Serve Steel, Coltrade Inc., RW Conklin Steel Supply, Steel Cities Steels, Chicago Specialty Steels and Steel Supply Corp. all operate in the Calumet Region.
Major suppliers like Praxair, TMS International and Carmeuse Lime and Stone, major employers themselves, also keep the Region's steel industry humming. Northwest Indiana steel mills are typically also a major employer of skilled tradesmen. They often invest in major capital projects to maintain their aging equipment – a single blast furnace reline for instance can run in the hundreds of millions of dollars, meaning months and months of work for union construction workers.
Downstate Indiana also is home to other steelmakers like Steel Dynamics in Fort Wayne and a Nucor mini-mill in Crawfordsville.
Though the largest in the country, the state's steel industry has been gradually declining over time as the Region's steel mills have idled blast furnaces, hot strip mills and other operations. Indiana made 24.7 million tons of steel in 2019.
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