United States Steel Corporation says it will make an additional investment of more than $1 billion into its Pennsylvania operations.
The investment will be used to construct a new sustainable endless casting and rolling facility at its Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and a cogeneration facility at its Clairton Plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania, both part of the company’s Mon Valley Works.
The “cutting-edge” endless casting and rolling technology combines thin slab casting and hot rolled band production into one continuous process and will make Mon Valley Works “the first facility of this type” in the US and one of only a handful in the world, says the company.
David B. Burritt, president and CEO of US Steel, says: “This is a truly transformational investment for US Steel.
“We are combining our integrated steelmaking process with industry-leading endless casting and rolling to reinvest in steelmaking and secure the future for a new generation of steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania and the Mon Valley.
“US Steel’s investment in leading technology and advanced manufacturing aligns with our vision to be the industry leader in delivering high-quality, value-added products and innovative solutions that address our customers’ most challenging steel needs for the future.
“We believe that adding sustainable steel technology to our footprint will create long-term value for our employees, our region, our customers and our investors.”
The installation of endless casting and rolling technology will give U. S. Steel a world-class asset that will improve the quality and attributes of its downstream products for customers in appliance, construction and industrial markets.
With this investment, Mon Valley Works will become the principal source of substrate for the production of the company’s XG3 Advanced High Strength Steel that assists automotive customers in meeting fuel efficiency standards.
This project, in addition to producing sustainable AHSS, will improve environmental performance, energy conservation and reduce the company’s carbon footprint associated with Mon Valley Works, says US Steel.
First coil production is expected in 2022, contingent upon permitting and construction.
With this investment, US Steel says it continues its more than a century-long commitment to innovative steelmaking in Pennsylvania.
The technology will allow for optimization of the Mon Valley Works and other US Steel facilities without increasing the company’s overall steelmaking capacity.
The new endless casting and rolling facility will replace the existing traditional slab caster and hot strip mill facilities at the Mon Valley Works.
Current and future employees will enhance their skills with more advanced manufacturing to operate and maintain the new facility through training programs developed in partnership with local universities.
As part of the project, US Steel will also include construction of a new cogeneration facility, equipped with state-of-the-art emissions control systems at its Clairton Plant, to convert a portion of the coke oven gas generated at its Clairton Plant into electricity to power the steelmaking and finishing facilities throughout US Steel’s Mon Valley operations.
Once completed, US Steel says “the new advanced steelmaking technology and state-of-the-art cogeneration facilities will incorporate the best available control technologies”.
Based upon current design and engineering data that is accompanying the company’s air permit applications, US Steel expects that the project will result in “significant improvements” in emissions compared to the existing facilities to be replaced, including reductions in emissions of Particulate Matter of approximately 60 percent, PM 10 and PM 2.5 of approximately 35 percent, sulfur dioxide of approximately 50 percent, and nitrogen oxides of approximately 80 percent.
US Steel says the project “exemplifies our continued commitment to conserve resources and improve air quality in the Mon Valley”.
