JSW Steel plans invest approximately $1 billion to ramp up the production capacity at its Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka, India, to 18 million metric tons per year from the current 12 million metric tons per year. A current expansion project, which will raise production at the plant from 12 to 13 million metric tons per year, includes the revamp and capacity upgrade of blast furnace-3 to improve hot metal availability. The company will also modify and enhance the capacity of its melt shop, its flat and long products mills and allied facilities to utilize the additional hot metal output. This project will be complete by March 2020.

ArcelorMittal received European Commission (EC) approval for the sale of several steelmaking assets to Liberty House Group. Assets included within the divestment package are ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia), ArcelorMittal Piombino (Italy), ArcelorMittal Dudelange (Luxembourg) and several finishing lines at ArcelorMittal Liège (Belgium). According to Liberty House, the acquisition will make the company Europe’s third-largest steel producer. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first half of 2019.

Big River Steel (BRS) commissioned SMS group with the expansion of its steel plant in Osceola, Ark. SMS group will supply BRS with mechanical equipment and electrical and automation systems. The expansion will increase the plant’s annual output to approximately 3 million tons of steel. After completion, the facility will have two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) and two twin-ladle furnaces. Installation of an additional gas cleaning system will ensure compliance with environmental regulations.

JSW USA has officially restarted its facility in Mingo Junction, Ohio. After being idle for 3,545 days, it is now a melt and manufacture mill. The reopening of the mill is expected to create 1,000 jobs. The first slab on its electric-arc furnace (EAF) was cast on Dec. 14. Now that the facility will be melting its own steel, JSW USA will be more cost effective and ensure the highest quality for customers. The company is already in the design process to install another EAF at Mingo Junction.

Mukand Sumi Special Steel Ltd. (MSSSL), a joint venture of India’s Mukand Ltd. and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp., placed an order with Germany’s SMS group to supply a modern special-bar-quality (SBQ) rolling mill to produce straight round and hexagon bars, wire rod and bar-in-coils. The new mill will be installed near Hospet in Karnataka, India, adjoining Mukand’s existing steelmaking facilities. MSSSL plans to export specialty steels across the globe from this facility. Commissioning of the new SBQ mill is scheduled for the second quarter of 2020.

Specialty Steel Works Inc. (SSWI) announced a major capital investment at its Niagara LaSalle Corporation Cold Finish Steel Bar (CFSB) facility in Hammond, Ind. The multimillion dollar investment in new high-performance equipment and infrastructure will enhance and modernize the facility’s operating capabilities. The Hammond plant processes cold-finished steel bars in a wide range of sizes, shapes, grades, finishes and tolerances for a myriad of customer applications, predominately in the transportation, industrial equipment and agriculture markets. New equipment will be phased in over the next 12 months.

U.S. Steel plans to spend at least $750 million to upgrade its century-old Gary Works steel mill in Gary, Ind. According to the company, the investment will help preserve approximately 3,900 jobs and will allow the company to become more competitive by upgrading technology and giving workers new tools. In March, U.S. Steel announced it was restarting one of two blast furnaces and the steelmaking facilities at its Granite City Works, an integrated steelmaking plant in Granite City, Ill.  

Steel is an amazing material when you consider its versatility. Steel can achieve the needed characteristics for a vast array of end products; it is relatively low cost compared to many other materials; it is endlessly recyclable without loss of property; and it can be mass produced, with annual global production of over 1.5 billion tons.

JSW Steel announced its proposal to invest $500 million to acquire and upgrade Acero Junction Inc. of Mingo Junction, Ohio, an integrated steel manufacturing plant with a potential annual capacity of 3 million tons. India’s JSW Steel says the investment will be made in two phases, the first of which will be to recondition and restart the electric-arc furnace (EAF) and slab caster and modernize the hot-strip mill. The second phase will depend on economic conditions, but it could include the addition of another EAF and other assets.

Gerdau Special Steel North America – three years after completing a $155.6 million capital investment at the same facility – is launching an additional $70.3 million project at its Monroe, Mich., special steel mill. This round of investment will include a new electric-arc furnace (EAF) transformer, controls and mechanical upgrades in the EAF, and a new twin-ladle furnace and material-handling system.