Steel Mills

JSW USA inks pact with Primetals to upgrade Mingo Junction casting ops

January 24, 2024

JSW Steel USA has teamed up with Primetals Technologies to upgrade the slab casting capabilities at the company’s Mingo Junction slab and hot-rolled sheet mill in Ohio.

The project will allow JSW USA to make a “wider range of sophisticated steels in the form of slabs to diversify its product portfolio for additional markets,” Primetals said in a press release on Wednesday.

Work on the project has already started and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2025, Primetals said. A spokesperson for JSW USA told SMU that further terms of the deal could not be disclosed at this time.

Primetals said it will install “a 230-ton vacuum tank degasser (VTD) with a dry mechanical vacuum pump system,” which will be North America’s largest VTD to date.

JSW USA, a unit of India’s JSW Steel, will be able “to produce cleaner steel and reduce levels of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and sulfur in different process steps,” according to the release.

“We look forward to the successful completion of these upgrades to strengthen our service capabilities and meet the growing needs of the renewable energy and infrastructure markets, while staying in line with the Build America – Buy America Act,” commented Jonathan Shank, COO at JSW’s Mingo Junction plant. Shank spoke with SMU in October about the ongoing investment project at the Ohio facility.

“Revamping a continuous slab caster usually results in a shutdown period of several months,” but Primetals has managed to cut the downtime to 30 days “by keeping the existing concrete foundations and strand-supporting structure,” the release said.

This renders any time-consuming demolition work unnecessary, the equipment and technology provider noted.

Headquartered in London, Primetals “provides metals producers with cutting-edge, tailor-made technologies, solutions, and services,” according to its website.

The current Mingo Junction plant has an EAF, ladle metallurgy furnace (LMF), slab caster, and 80” hot rolling mill.

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.