U.S. Steel: Keetac will make DR grade pellets
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U.S. Steel is moving forward with DR grade pellet production, and has selected Keetac as the plant to do so.
This was announced by the company on Thursday, in an infographic sent out with their earnings update.
On the earnings call on Friday, CEO and President of U.S. Steel Dave Burritt shared that Keetac’s high quality iron ore body and long mine life make them the best choice. They will have the ability to produce blast and DR grade pellets there in the future.
DR grade pellets have a higher iron content than the traditional pellets made on the Range.
Keetac is the smaller of the two plants owned by U.S. Steel, so getting a $150 million investment is significant.
Employees lined up at Keetac, which will begin making DR grade pellets for U.S. Steel.
They’ve also gone through longer idles than some of the plants. So this gives steelworkers a better sense of security.
Jake Friend, president of Local 2660, said, “We haven’t had any real major investment in quite some time. They’re not going to put money into the place if they don’t plan on getting it out, I would imagine.”
He will be meeting with the company on Monday to discuss more details.
In an earlier release, the company said they intended to break ground in the fall.