Dive Brief:
- U.S. Steel on Thursday said it will restart tin mill production next year at its Gary, Indiana, complex to serve growing demand for domestic materials.
- The company plans to spend between $15 million and $20 million to resume Gary Tin Mill operations by early 2027. Tin production has been idled there since late 2022.
- The move will support 225 jobs at Gary Works, which also does steel and iron production, as well as pay for costs related to equipment inspections, maintenance and materials necessary for production, according to a news release.
Dive Insight:
U.S. Steel is looking to restart tin mill production as the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper force companies to reevaluate their sourcing strategies for certain metals. Domestic companies such as Steel Dynamics and Nucor are expecting to see a surge in first quarter earnings from renewed demand for U.S. supplies.
U.S. Steel said the planned restart requires “sustained customer interest” in securing long-term domestic tin mill supplies, and it believes it can increase production to meet that demand when market conditions “allow for fair competition.”
The company plans to wait until early 2027 to resume production to better align with the annual contracting cycle for tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate used in food and aerosol cans.
It would also allow enough time for antidumping and countervailing duty investigations to play out with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission, according to Clark Hill International Law firm.
U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers union submitted a petition on April 9 requesting the federal government to investigate imported products from China, Taiwan and Turkey, alleging that the subsidized goods are harmful to domestic producers.The imported products under the scope of the investigations are the same type of goods that could be produced at the Gary Tin Mill.
U.S. Steel said the restart will support “mined, melted and made in America tin mill supply,” as well as domestic manufacturing and supply chains for food packaging and agriculture.
U.S. Steel idled the majority of its Gary Tin Mill operations in December 2022, including Tin Line 5 and Tin Line 6, according to its 2022 annual report. It had laid off 244 employees and cut production due to “market conditions which were outside of the company’s control,” such as waning domestic demand and imported tin increases, Northwest Indiana Business Magazine reported at the time.
Global tin prices have rallied in recent months. They reached $48,384 per metric ton in the first quarter, surpassing previous record highs set in early 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Values have been as low as $21,600 per metric ton over the past four years or so.
“Customers are increasingly focused on securing dependable domestic supply they can count on over the long term,” U. S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt said in a statement. “Restarting the Gary Tin Mill positions us to serve that demand.”
Tin has not been smelted or mined in the United States since 1993 and 1989, respectively, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The majority of U.S. tin is used for chemicals (25%), tinplate (16%) and alloys (12%). Tin products produced at the Gary Tin Mill will be used for food and beverage packaging, aerosol products, oil filtration goods and other applications, according to U.S. Steel.
