U.S. Steel to pay $774M for remaining stake in Big River Steel

The Big River Steel plant in Mississippi County is shown in this 2018 file photo.
The Big River Steel plant in Mississippi County is shown in this 2018 file photo.

U.S. Steel Corp., based in Pittsburgh, announced Tuesday that it plans to purchase the remaining stake in eastern Arkansas’ Big River Steel for roughly $774 million.

Big River’s $1.3 billion mill opened in January 2017, after about two years of construction near the Mississippi River, just south of Osceola. The plant was the first steel mill of any kind to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, a program normally used to promote office buildings for energy efficiency.

“For months, I’ve said that we can’t get to the future fast enough,” said David B. Burritt, president and CEO of U. S. Steel. “Today, I can say the future is now.”

Burritt said the Arkansas mill is the cornerstone of their “best of both strategy.”

“With Big River Steel, we can offer customers the high performance, innovative steel products they expect from U. S. Steel’s scientists and application engineers made through a state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable and efficient mini mill process,” he said.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021 and is subject to “customary closing conditions,” such as antitrust approval, the release states.

In October, U.S. Steel announced it would pay $700 million to take 49.9% ownership of the Big River mill. That sale closed Oct. 31.

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