United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) announced a $1.9 billion investment to build a direct reduction iron (DRI) plant at its Big River Steel Works campus in Arkansas, the first integrated DRI plant of its kind in the United States.
The facility will be fed by DR-grade pellets produced by US Steel's Keetac ore operations in Minnesota, completing a vertically integrated supply chain that runs from iron ore mining to electric arc furnace (EAF) steel production in one in-house operation. With four EAFs now fully operational at Big River following the $3 billion Big River 2 expansion, co-locating DRI production at the same plant eliminates the need to transport raw materials to the site.
The project is expected to create approximately 200 permanent positions at the Big River smelter and 35 embedded contractor positions, with construction employment peaking at approximately 2,000 jobs.
“From iron ore in Minnesota to steel production in Arkansas, this $1.9 billion investment strengthens our ability to create steel that is truly mined, smelted, manufactured in America, end to end,” said David Burritt, president and CEO of US Steel.
He also said the company is partnering with Nippon Steel to accelerate the project's timeline. Nippon Steel has pledged to invest $11 billion in US Steel through 2028 after acquiring the company in 2025 for $14.9 billion.
