IOWA - Today, Mesabi Metallics announced plans to build the biggest iron and steel mill in the U.S., with production starting as early as 2030. The $15 billion mill will use direct reduced iron technology, which makes iron without using coal. There are three facilities in the U.S. already using this technology in Ohio, Louisiana and Texas. The new mill is expected to create over 1,700 new permanent jobs.

In response to Mesabi Metallic’s announcement Hilary Lewis, Steel Director at Industrious Labs said:

“This is an important, and predictable, investment in the future of iron and steelmaking in the U.S. Existing coal-based furnaces are an outdated, polluting production pathway that is being rapidly outcompeted by cleaner, modern direct reduction furnaces. Mesabi’s new mill accelerates that trend, and directly threatens existing coal-based mills in places like Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

“Over the past decade, steel production in the U.S. has remained relatively flat, and as new, cleaner furnaces have come online, older coal-furnaces have closed. The writing is on the wall for the few coal-based furnaces left in the U.S.: modernize, or lose out. This is a wake-up call for industry decision makers, elected leaders, and communities across the Midwest — if they want to keep the steel industry that helped build our buildings, bridges, cars and the modern middle class, they need to invest in cleaner, modern iron and steel technology today."