US Steel restarts blast furnace in Granite City amid rising demand

US Steel, an American steel company, said it’s starting to restart one of the two blast furnaces at its Granite City Works plant in Illinois. They made this decision after looking at market demand for a few months, which showed steady growth in orders from key customer segments, according to Reuters.

According to US Steel CEO David Burritt, the company is confident in its ability to safely and profitably restart operations to meet customer demand in 2026.

The blast furnace, which was temporarily shut down in 2023 due to weak market conditions, will now once again become a central element of the production recovery strategy. At the same time, restarting the unit will require a significant expansion of the workforce. The company estimates that approximately 400 additional employees will be hired. This will bring the total number of employees at the Granite City Works site to approximately 1,200.

The production ramp-up comes on the heels of a major deal. In June, Japanese company Nippon Steel officially closed its $14.9 billion acquisition of US Steel.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the resumption of blast furnace operations is an important signal for the US steel market, as it indicates an expected recovery in the industrial and infrastructure sectors. US Steel expects that Nippon Steel’s transformed management approach will help improve production efficiency and strengthen the company’s position in 2026.

As a reminder, US Steel recently announced the launch of a multi-year growth plan in partnership with Nippon Steel. The growth plan could generate approximately $3 billion in profits, including an estimated $2.5 billion in additional EBITDA from capital investments promised by Nippon over the next three years and approximately $500 million from improved operational efficiency.