United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) has announced that it will be restarting construction on a technologically advanced electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking facility at its Tubular Operations in Fairfield, Alabama, located in Jefferson County.
US Steel had previously initiated construction of the EAF in March 2015, but suspended it in December that year due to unvfavourable market conditions.
The US$250 million project will create 150 full-time jobs and the EAF will have an annual capacity of 1.6Mt. Construction will begin immediately and the furnace is expected to produce steel rounds in H2 2020.
David Burritt, president and chief executive officer of US Steel, commented: "We are pleased to announce the achievement of the market and performance stage gates required to restart our Tubular Segment EAF. This investment is an important step to improve our cost structure and positions our Tubular business to win over the long-term. We are committed to investing in the sustainable steel technology required to be a value-added tubular solutions provider for our customers."
According to Burritt, President Donald Trump's strong trade actions and improved market conditions plus support from the United Steelworkers and incentives from the State of Alabama and the Jefferson County Commission are behind the company's decision to restart the project. "We are excited to add EAF capabilities to our company's footprint and provide sustainable tubular solutions for our customers," he said.