ArcelorMittal confirmed with the government of Ontario its plan for a $1.4 billion investment in decarbonization technologies at ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s plant in Hamilton. The investment will reduce annual CO₂ emissions at the facility by approximately 3 million metric tons, which represents approximately 60% of emissions. This means the Hamilton plant will transition away from the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steelmaking production route to the direct reduced iron (DRI)/electric-arc furnace (EAF) production route. The project is scheduled to be complete by 2028.

United States Steel Corp. broke ground in Osceola, Ark., on the company’s next-generation highly sustainable and technologically advanced steel mill. According to U.S. Steel, the $3 billion steelmaking facility will be the most advanced in North America and largest private project in the history of Arkansas. The plant will be adjacent to U. S. Steel’s Big River Steel, and the two facilities will be known as Big River Steel Works. The facility is expected to bring 900 plant jobs to the area, along with thousands of construction jobs. It will include two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) with 3 million tons per year of advanced steelmaking capability, an endless casting and rolling line and advanced finishing capabilities.

Intel announced plans for an initial investment of more than $20 billion to build two chip factories in Ohio. The investment will help boost production to meet the surging demand for advanced semiconductors. To support the development of the new site, Intel pledged an additional $100 million toward partnerships with educational institutions to build a pipeline of talent and bolster research programs in the region. As the largest single private-sector investment in Ohio history, the initial phase of the project is expected to create 3,000 Intel jobs and 7,000 construction jobs over the course of the build. Spanning nearly 1,000 acres in Licking County, just outside of Columbus, the site can accommodate a total of eight chip factories. Planning for the first two factories will start immediately, with construction scheduled to begin in late 2022. Production is expected to come online in 2025.

United States Steel and Carnegie Foundry, a robotics and AI studio, jointly announced a strategic investment and partnership. The two Pittsburgh-based companies will work to accelerate and scale industrial automation driven by advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). Carnegie Foundry will use this investment to commercialize and scale its industrial automation portfolio of robotics and AI technologies in advanced manufacturing, industrial robotics, integrated systems, autonomous mobility, voice analytics and more.

General Motors Co. will invest more than $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites. The investment will create 4,000 new jobs, retain 1,000 and significantly increase battery-cell and electric-truck manufacturing capacity. The single largest investment in GM history includes construction of a new Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Lansing and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion Township for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra.

Nucor Corp. reached agreements to acquire a majority ownership position in California Steel Industries (CSI) by purchasing a 50% equity interest from a subsidiary of Vale S.A. and a 1% equity ownership stake from JFE Steel Corp. (JFE). The company will be a joint venture between Nucor and JFE. CSI is a flat-rolled steel converter with the capability to produce more than 2 million tons of finished steel and steel products annually. The company has five product lines, including hot rolled, pickled and oiled, cold rolled, galvanized and ERW pipe.

Blast Cleaning Technologies (BCT) acquired Coyote Enterprises Inc. of Coweta, Okla. BCT designs and manufactures shot-blasting equipment, components and system upgrades that offer improved fit, function and life. Coyote Enterprises was founded in 1998 to provide cost-effective blast equipment and replacement parts engineered for increased performance and longevity. Under the ownership of BCT, Coyote customers will have access to North America’s largest engineering and field service team as well as BCT’s inventory support. The operation will be consolidated and centralized into BCT’s 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in West Allis, Wis.

Sheffield Forgemasters signed up as a Tier One Partner with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. The move will give the 200-year-old company, which was recently taken into public ownership, access to the AFRC’s research-and-development facilities focusing on emerging advanced manufacturing technologies such as residual stress, advanced furnaces and forging expertise in Industry 4.0 data analytics and modeling. 

Sheffield Forgemasters signed a memorandum of understanding with Rolls-Royce SMR to jointly explore commercial mechanisms for a long-term collaboration on the supply of forgings to the Rolls-Royce UK Small Modular Reactor (SMR) fleet. The project directly supports the United Kingdom’s civil nuclear industry and the development of SMRs in the U.K., with Sheffield Forgemasters able to supply the complex nuclear-grade demonstrator forgings as part of the regulatory process.

Algoma Steel Group Inc., a Canadian producer of hot- and cold-rolled steel sheet and plate products, will construct two new electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) to replace its existing blast furnace and basic oxygen steelmaking operations. The transformation is expected to reduce Algoma’s carbon emissions by approximately 70%. Following the transformation to EAF steelmaking, Algoma’s facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is projected to have an annual raw steel production capacity of approximately 3.7 million tons. The facility will also include new vacuum degassing capability to expand Algoma’s offering of steel plate grades.