U.S. Steel plans a $300 million blast furnace reline at Gary Works next year

U.S. Steel plans to start construction on a $300 million blast furnace reline at Gary Works next year.

New owner Nippon Steel promised the major capital project if its $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel went through.

U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt said at the Steel Market Update Steel Summit in Atlanta last week that U.S. Steel would move forward with the reline next year of the largest blast furnace at the largest steel mill in North America.

A reline involves replacing the refractory brick inside a blast furnace, which burns iron ore, coke and limestone in volcanic temperatures to make iron, the precursor to the steel that goes into cars, appliances and many other end uses. Blast furnaces must be relined, or almost entirely rebuilt from the inside, every few decades.

Randy Palmate