United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel) recently installed a $60 million pig iron caster at its Gary Works facility in Indiana.
Preconstruction began earlier this year, and start-up is expected in early 2023.
The company’s Minnesota Ore Operations, Minntac, and Keetac will feed the caster with iron ore. The pig iron produced is expected to supply up to half of the ore-based metallics needs for Big River Steel Works.
Installation is part of the company’s metallics strategy, capitalizing on its iron ore advantage, and is expected to create approximately 25 jobs at the facility.
Employees, United Steelworkers leadership, key partners, and elected officials met last week to celebrate the company’s investment.
“Mined, melted, and made in America has always been important to us, and recent world events have demonstrated how critical self-reliance is,” David B. Burritt, U.S. Steel president and CEO, said. “This investment at Gary Works, to create the necessary material for our lower-emissions electric arc furnaces, is the perfect example of combining the best of integrated and mini mill technologies. It’s also helping propel our transition to our ambitious Best for All® strategy.”
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, U.S. Steel has an annual raw steelmaking capability of 22.4 million net tons.