Metals

Photo courtesy of Big River Steel

US Steel to build new EAF steel mill in Arkansas

United States Steel Corp., headquartered in Pittsburgh, has selected Osceola, Arkansas, as the location for a new electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mill. Site selection is subject to numerous factors, including final agreements with key partners. Permitting for the project is underway, and the company says it expects to break ground in the first quarter of 2022, with project completion and full operation anticipated in 2024.

The company announced in the fall of 2021 that it was beginning an exploratory site selection process for a new EAF flat-rolled steel minimill, noting that potential locations included both states where U.S. Steel has existing EAF operations (Alabama and Arkansas, where its Big River Steel mill is) and greenfield sites.

The new mill is designed to extend U.S. Steel’s customer advantages, according to the company. It is expected to feature two EAFs with 3 million tons per year of steelmaking capability and advanced finishing capabilities. U.S. Steel says the new mill will be the first to use endless casting and rolling technology in the United States, which brings significant energy, efficiency and capability enhancements to its operations.

Additionally, upon completion, U.S. Steel says the project will apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

“With this location selected and shovels ready, we are reshaping the future of steelmaking,” U.S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt says. “We had numerous competitive site options, but Osceola offers our customers incomparable advantages.”

When completed, the new facility in combination with Big River Steel will form a 6.3-million-ton megamill capable of providing many of the most advanced and sustainable steels in North America, according to the company. The new nongrain-oriented electrical steel and galvalume/galvanizing lines currently under construction at Big River Steel will advance U.S. Steel’s ability to respond to customers’ supply chain needs. The location offers abundant, increasingly renewable and clean power from Entergy Arkansas, Class 1 rail service from BNSF with connections to other railroads, Mississippi River docks and interstate trucking access, U.S. Steel adds.

“The state of Arkansas, Mississippi County, the city of Osceola, Entergy, BNSF and other parties have all worked to make this the clear choice for a path to the future without roadblocks,” Burritt says. “We’re not going to make our stakeholders wait to see progress. We intend to break ground this quarter and get to work as soon as permits are in hand,” he says of the $3 billion project.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says, “Arkansas has created an ideal business environment for the growth of the steel industry in our state. The investment and high-paying jobs that will result from this announcement will make a real difference in the lives of many families in northeast Arkansas.”

“Mississippi County has become a national leader in steel production, and U.S. Steel’s decision to create ‘the steel mill of the future’ in this community continues to underscore why,” Arkansas Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston adds. “Not only does Arkansas have a trained workforce, a reliable electrical grid and easy access to river, rail and highways, but it also has a governor, a General Assembly and numerous community partners and stakeholders who recognize the importance of broadening economic opportunities for Arkansans and who will go the extra mile to compete for those opportunities. ”

Phto courtesy of Nucor

Nucor opts for West Virginia as EAF mill site

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. has announced it will build its new scrap-fed electric arc furnace (EAF) steel sheet mill in Mason County, West Virginia. That county abuts the Ohio River, which serves as the border between West Virginia and Ohio.

“The West Virginia location on the Ohio River provides Nucor with important transportation and logistics advantages and a strengthened ability to serve customers in the Midwest and Northeast, the two largest sheet consuming regions in the United States,” according to the steelmaker.

The announcement is part of a cascade of EAF capacity expansion and location siting announcements in the past three years that includes other investments by Nucor, plus those by U.S. Steel Corp., Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) and Steel Dynamics Inc. In Canada, a longtime integrated steelmaking complex has announced its intention to switch to EAF technology.

“Following a thorough process to determine the right location for our state-of-the-art, greenfield sheet mill, we are thrilled to make this significant investment in West Virginia and enhance our presence in this important region,” says Leon Topalian, president and CEO of Nucor.

He adds, “Our new sheet mill in Mason County will have unmatched capabilities that will enable the continued expansion of high-quality, low carbon steels, building on our industry-leading offerings. We are pleased to create hundreds of new, high-paying jobs and position West Virginia as a leader in clean steel production. We are also excited to create substantial long-term value for investors through this high-return investment, which will help drive Nucor’s continued growth.”

Construction is expected to take two years, pending permit and regulatory approvals. The new sheet mill is expected to cost approximately $2.7 billion and have the capacity to produce 3 million tons of steel annually. It will be equipped to produce 84-inch sheet products and, among other features, will include a 76-inch tandem cold mill and two galvanizing lines. “The new greenfield mill will have a significantly lower carbon footprint than competitors who have historically supplied the region,” according to Nucor.

Global steel output up 3.7 percent last year

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) says nations reporting figures to the association produced some 1.95 billion metric tons of steel in 2021, representing a 3.7 increase in output from 2020.

The uptick occurred despite China, which makes about half the world’s steel, scaling back its output by 3 percent last year. While China may have reached peak steel output associated with its rapid urbanization and transportation buildout, steel producers in other nations experienced double-digit boosts in output associated with a rebound from COVID-19 and related restrictions in 2020.

The world’s next three largest producers after China—India, Japan and the United States—each experienced output increases ranging from 15 percent to 19 percent. The European Union also witnessed an output rise of more than 15 percent.

Turkey, a prominent buyer of ferrous scrap on the world stage, saw its steel output rise by more than 12 percent in 2021 compared with the year before. Pakistan, another ferrous scrap-importing nation, enjoyed a nearly 40 percent rise in steel output.

Nations with more modest increases in steel production included Russia (6.1 percent), South Korea (5.2 percent) and the United Kingdom (3.9 percent).

A few nations joined China by logging decreased output: Indonesia (-2.9 percent), Iran (-1.8 percent) and Malaysia (-1.8 percent).