New capacity improves resilience of the US steel industry

Recent consolidation and new capacity in the US steel industry is spurring a faster transition to cleaner steelmaking technologies, steel executives said in a September 30 discussion at City Hall.

Mark Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics Inc. At an event hosted by the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, the shift to U.S. steel making in electric arc furnaces (EAF) was accelerated by the coronavirus. ...

“This is a new era for American steel and you can really see if it comes before [COVID-19], I just think COVID is the catalyst,” he said. "... We are streamlining and consolidating our industry."

Millett sees Cleveland-Cliffs' September 28 acquisition of most of ArcelorMittal's US integrated steel mills as a positive development for the industry.

The industry will change with Cliffs' acquisition of ArcelorMittal's US assets, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, said David Stickler, CEO of Big River Steel.

“Most likely, we will get four producers of flat products from 10 to 15 million rpm /year,” he said.

Cleveland-Cliffs, purchasing AK Steel in March and announcing the acquisition of ArcelorMittal, opted for a more traditional form of integrated steelmaking, with Nucor and SDI pioneering the EAF model. The partnership between US Steel and Big River Steel, created in late 2019, includes a hybrid of EAF and integrated steelmaking, Stickler said.

“This is a healthy market for customers, suppliers and investors,” he added.

Panelists said the commissioning of new plants in the United States and the Cliffs hot-rolled iron plant in Ohio under construction will provide additional environmental benefits as older, less efficient facilities are replaced. Currently, about 70% of steel production in the United States is greener EAF production.

Big River Steel is "very serious" about investing in renewables going forward, Stickler said.

“We are being pushed by a number of our customers, including European automakers,” he said. "They recognize that our carbon footprint is the world's leading, but they want us to be better."

Dan Needham, vice president and CEO of Nucor Steel Indiana, said the supplier is building a wind power facility at Nucor's new micro-plant in Sedalia, Missouri to meet some of the mill's energy needs. Nucor also uses hydropower at its Seattle plant, he said.

“We're constantly looking at new technologies,” Needham said. “Of course we are looking at hydrogen, but it is too early to say that it will be successful in what they