US Steel announced today it will invest more than $1 billion to construct a new sustainable endless casting and rolling facility at its Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania, and a cogeneration facility at its Clairton Plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania, both part of the company’s Mon Valley Works. The endless casting and rolling technology combines thin slab casting and hot rolled band production into one continuous process and will make Mon Valley Works the first facility of this type in the United States.
In a press release, the company said the installation of endless casting and rolling technology will improve the quality and attributes of its downstream products for customers in appliance, construction and industrial markets. With this investment, Mon Valley Works will become the principal source of substrate for the production of the company’s industry-leading XG3 Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) that assists automotive customers in meeting fuel efficiency standards. First coil production is expected in 2022, contingent upon permitting and construction.
The new endless casting and rolling facility will replace the existing traditional slab caster and hot strip mill facilities at the Mon Valley Works. As part of the project, US Steel will also include construction of a new cogeneration facility, equipped with state-of-the-art emissions control systems at its Clairton Plant, to convert a portion of the coke oven gas generated at its Clairton Plant into electricity to power the steelmaking and finishing facilities throughout US Steel’s Mon Valley operations.
Based upon current design and engineering data that is accompanying US Steel’s air permit applications, the company expects that the project will result in “significant improvements in emissions compared to the existing facilities to be replaced,” including reductions in emissions of Particulate Matter (PM) of approximately 60 percent, PM10 and PM2.5 of approximately 35 percent, sulfur dioxide of approximately 50 percent, and nitrogen oxides of approximately 80 percent.