A new $1.9 billion steelmaking investment in northeast Arkansas is set to connect iron ore mined in Minnesota with advanced factories serving the automotive, appliance and solar industries.
U.S. Steel broke ground Oct. 30 on a direct-reduced-iron facility at its Big River Steel Works campus in Osceola, near the Mississippi River. The project is expected to add approximately 200 permanent jobs and up to 2,000 construction jobs at peak activity.
The plant is the latest step in an industrial expansion that has made Mississippi County a major center of American steel production. Rather than relying entirely on purchased scrap metal, the new operation will give the company another source of iron for its electric-arc furnaces.
From Minnesota iron ore to Arkansas steel
The production process removes oxygen from iron ore without melting it, creating direct reduced iron that can be used in electric-arc-furnace steelmaking. The new plant will sit next to the Big River 2 mill, allowing hot material to move directly into its furnaces…