U.S. Steel has completed the $350 million reline of Gary Works’ blast furnace #14 — the largest blast furnace in the steel corporation’s operating footprint.
The reline, which took about 100 days, according to an email from a U.S. Steel spokesperson, was controversial with Northwest Indiana activists, who have expressed their desire for greener technology at the Gary mill.
According to a Thursday U.S. Steel news release, the reline project took more than 1 million labor hours from employees and contractors and was completed with a “Zero Days Away Injury Rate.” About 1,000 contractors were on-site each day.
The corporation’s news release said the blast furnace’s return to service “marks an important milestone for Gary Works” and reflects the company’s continued commitment to investing in the facility’s long-term competitiveness.
According to U.S. Steel, the reline ensures Gary Works’ long-term ironmaking capabilities and continued production of “reliable, high-quality American-made steel.”
“The return of Blast Furnace #14 is a great example of disciplined execution at U.S. Steel and is a testament to the skill, dedication and unwavering focus on safety demonstrated by our employees, contractors and partners,” U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt said in a statement. “This investment positions Gary Works to continue serving customers, supporting American manufacturing, and creating value for years to come.”
Funding for the $350 million reline came from a partnership with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. According to a previous U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Nippon Steel plans to give at least $3.1 billion in capital investments to Gary Works, starting with $400 million in 2025. This year, the company planned to invest $900 million in the facility, followed by $800 million in 2027 and $1.1 billion in 2028.
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On Dec. 22, 2025, the U.S. Steel Board of Directors approved the reline’s funding. In September 2025, the board also approved a $200 million investment into the Gary Works’ hot strip mill, which will help “optimize production costs and expand premium product offerings, including heavy gauge line pipe and automotive steel,” according to Post-Tribune archives.
The reline included replacing the furnace’s refractory lining and restoration of critical systems to support safe, reliable operation and extend its productive life, according to the release. Teams also did extensive maintenance on the furnace’s supporting infrastructure during the reline.
Blast furnace #14 is capable of producing more than 2 million tons of hot metal annually, and it uses iron ore pellets from U.S. Steel’s Minnesota Ore Operations.
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, a local interest group that’s been dedicated to green steel at Gary Works, said in a statement Friday that Gary Works needs direct reduction to survive, calling blast furnaces an obsolete technology.
“The steel industry as a whole, including Nippon/U.S. Steel at its Arkansas plant, is moving to this cleaner technology,” GARD member Carolyn McCrady said in the emailed statement. “If Nippon/U.S. Steel is serious about keeping jobs in Gary and wants to remain competitive, it must commit some of the $3.1 billion (promised) to Gary Works to begin this transition.
“With direct reduction, Gary Works will continue to benefit the city of Gary and the state of Indiana. And very importantly, improve the health and well-being of the citizens of Gary and Northwest Indiana.”
Lisa Vallee, organizing director for Just Transition Northwest Indiana, told the Post-Tribune Friday that U.S. and Nippon Steel are making investments in “technology of the past.” JTNWI and GARD have worked together on direct reduction research, and she also believes it’s the best technology for Gary Works’ future.
Vallee also challenges Nippon to make its remaining investment into greener technologies. A previous U.S. steel statement said Gary Works has achieved environmental compliance rates exceeding 99%.
“Blast furnaces are extremely polluting,” Vallee said. “Especially the people that live right around it in Gary, who deserve so, so much better. It really is unfortunate, but there is still so much opportunity left.”
According to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, direct reduction creates sponge iron, which “is produced in a reactor by direct reduction of iron ore in solid form, utilizing natural gas as the reducing agent to produce pellets or briquettes.”
Direct reduction by itself cannot create steel, according to a previous statement from U.S. steel, and direct reduced iron is a feedstock used in electric arc furnaces that produce steel. U.S. Steel is investing $1.9 billion into a direct reduced iron facility in Osceola, Arkansas.
In previous statements to the Post-Tribune, U.S. Steel has said the company would need to build a new electric arc furnace-based steel facility “from the ground up.”
However, in a previous GARD report, the group found that U.S. Steel could install electric smelting furnaces at Gary Works, which could then melt direct reduced iron and remove its impurities. The molten iron could then be fed into the facility’s basic oxygen furnaces to create steel, according to the report.
U.S. Steel has said that is not being done anywhere nationally or at the scale needed for Gary Works.
“Converting Gary Works to an electric arc furnace facility would require shutting down the entire plant, demolishing it and building new facilities,” U.S. Steel said in a previous statement to the Post-Tribune. “That would effectively shutter the plant for years, causing significant losses, including jobs for more than 4,300 employees at Gary while greatly reducing our ability to serve the automotive market.”