Steel Mills
Big River Steel Running Second Line Near 90% Capacity
Written by Michael Cowden
January 8, 2021
Big River Steel is running the new, second line at its steel mill in Osceola, Ark., at close to 90% of its rated capacity. “Big River Steel expected and has had another record startup in terms of its second furnace and caster,” said a company spokesperson in an email to Steel Market Update.
The company in October struck an arc at the mill’s new, second EAF and produced its first commercial-grade coil in November.
The expansion is expected to double Big River’s rated capacity from 1.65 million tons to 3.3 million tons per year.
The increased raw materials requirements associated with running two EAFs left Big River scrambling for scrap and paying a significant premium to secure it, some market participants said, noting that the company must compete with the likes of Nucor and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) for metallics.
The Big River spokesperson did not confirm those rumors. “The Big River Steel team, working closely with our metallics partner, Koch, has done a nice job of keeping up with our increased consumption of metallics,” she said.
Koch Industries, one of the biggest private companies on the U.S., has also been among Big River’s biggest stakeholders.
U.S. Steel, which owns a 49.9% stake in Big River, has announced plans to acquire the remaining 50.1% of the company. That deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year.
“The acquisition is not final yet,” a U.S. Steel spokesperson confirmed. And a more precise timeframe for when the pact might close is not yet available, she added.
Michael Cowden, michael@steelmarketupdate.com
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
Ternium swings to Q3 loss, eyes 2026 recovery
Ternium closed the third quarter with steady shipments and improving margins. But trade policy uncertainty and subdued demand in Mexico weighed on the Latin American steelmaker’s results.
Algoma’s losses widen in Q3 as tariff troubles continue
Algoma Steel’s net loss more than quadrupled in the third quarter on trade woes and its EAF transition. Separately, the company announced a change in leadership, as CEO Michael Garcia will retire at the end of the year.
Cliffs, POSCO announce MoU for ‘transformative’ partnership
Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with POSCO to forge a strategic partnership, one Cliffs bills as "transformative."
Cliffs touts steel stamping solution to replace aluminum in automotive
Cliffs said it successfully completed a defect-free trial production of exposed steel parts using aluminum-forming equipment in collaboration with an unnamed OEM,
Nucor navigates mixed flat-rolled markets with strategic muscle
Nucor entered the fourth quarter with clear forward momentum: stronger-than-expected results, solid sheet and plate demand, and construction progress on a major new mill that should add capacity next year.