U.S. Steel is looking for a site somewhere in the country to build a new $3 billion mini-mill.
Lass than a year after completing the acquisition of Big River Steel in Arkansas, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker is investing more heavily in the electric arc furnace mills that recycle scrap metal and have taken a significant amount of market share away from the hulking integrated mills that line the Lake Michigan shore in Northwest Indiana.
Mini-mills, which employ only 20% as much staff as integrated mills and emit 75% fewer greenhouse gases, went from accounting for 15% of the steel production in the United States in 1981 to 67% in 2018.
U.S. Steel wants to build a 3 million ton mini-mill flat-rolled facility that will have two electric arc furnaces, steelmaking operations and finishing lines. The company already owns some of the equipment it will install in the mill.
The steelmaker has launched an exploratory site selection process. It's looking at sites where it already has electric arc furnace operations, like Big River in Arkansas, and greenfield sites.
U.S. Steel plans to fund the $3 billion project with existing and expected cash flow.
The company said it is continuing to turn to mini-mill technology so it can make the next generation of advanced high-strength steel and other sustainable steel, like its new verdeX sustainable product line.
U.S. Steel, which currently has a steelmaking capacity of 26.2 million tons, said the new mini mill will help it reach its 2030 goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% and reaching net zero for carbon emissions by 2050.
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