Market Segment
April 16, 2026
U.S. Steel to restart Gary Tin Mill
Written by Laura Miller
U.S. Steel announced plans to restart tin production at its Gary Tin Mill at the integrated Gary Works steelmaking facility outside Chicago.
The company expects the restart to occur in early 2027 once maintenance activities are completed, materials are procured, and the workforce is prepared. The restart is expected to support 225 jobs.
Restart costs are estimated at ~$15-$20 million.
The facility was indefinitely idled in 2022 due to weak demand.
The timing of the restart is meant to position the facility to support customer needs aligned with annual contracting for tin mill products, the company noted.
“Customers are increasingly focused on securing dependable domestic supply they can count on over the long term,” explained USS President and CEO David B. Burritt in a statement. “Restarting the Gary Tin Mill positions us to serve that demand, support domestic manufacturing, and strengthen critical U.S. supply chains—including those that help support American farmers and food producers—provided trade is fair and enforced.”
Thursday’s restart announcement came just a week after U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers union filed an unfair trade case against tin mill product imports. They are seeking high dumping margins on tin mill products from China (1,077%), Taiwan (160%), and Turkey (193%), as well as countervailing duties on Chinese material.
U.S. Steel is one of two tin mill product producers left in the United States since Cleveland-Cliffs indefinitely idled its Weirton, W.Va., tin mill in 2024. (Ohio Coatings is the other with a 300,000-ton-per-year facility in Ohio.) Cliffs blamed the closure on the US government’s negative injury ruling in a 2023-2024 trade case against tin mill products.
Pittsburgh-based USS still produces tin mill products at its Midwest Plant, which is also a part of Gary Works.
U.S. Steel is also currently preparing to idle the No. 14 blast furnace at Gary Works for a $350-million reline from May to August. Driven by customer demand, it recently restarted the B blast furnace at its Granite City Works near St. Louis as well.
U.S. Steel has been a part of Nippon Steel since its acquisition in June last year. Nippon has committed to injecting $11 billion into USS by 2028.
