U.S. Steel reverses plans for Granite City Works — plant to continue operating

U.S. Steel has scrapped its plans to wind down processing at Granite City Works later this fall, the company announced Friday.

“We are pleased to have found a solution to continue slab consumption at Granite City for the foreseeable future,” a company executive said in a letter to employees.

Earlier this month, the newly acquired U.S. Steel announced plans to quit shipping in steel slabs to the metro-east mill at the end of October. At the time, the Pittsburgh-based company, now owned by the Japanese firm Nippon, said it would instead ship those slabs to to be processed at bigger plants in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

“U.S. Steel will continue to supply slabs to Granite City,” the company said in a statement. “As we shared earlier, our goal was to maintain flexibility, and we are pleased to have found a solution to continue slab consumption at Granite City.”

This news of the company’s reversal serves as a win for the steelworkers in Granite City who are still trying to figure out their long-term future amid the new owners. The mill is protected from further idling, closing or selling without government approval until June 2027, according to the deal negotiated between Nippon and the Trump administration.

“We feel like we got a little win here,” said Craig McKey, president of the local chapter of the United Steelworkers. “But the big picture: Granite’s still not in it for the long-term, and we’re going to continue to fight to give our membership and this community a future with this company.”

Currently, both blast furnaces are idled in Granite City and don’t produce any steel. Since late 2023, the mill has just been processing slabs shipped in from other locations.

U.S. Steel’s reversal comes ahead of a rally planned for 2:30 p.m. Saturday, where USW International President David McCall and U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Springfield, are scheduled to speak.

“We are elated with U.S. Steel’s decision to continue Granite City Works’ steel slab processing,” state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, and state Rep. Amy Elik, R-Godfrey, said in a statement. “This is a win.”

The United Steel Workers late Friday sent a memo to the union membership on the announcement. It promised to seek a long-term commitment to the mill and its metro-east workforce. It states:

“Our union has been fighting since Sept. 5 when USS stated they intended to stop sending slabs to Granite City Works at the end of Oct, effectively shutting down the plant. The sales agreement required them to provide significant protections, including major investments, totaling about $11 billion across our facilities. This includes short- and mid-range commitments to keep our facilities open: Granite City until June 2027 and the rest until June 2035. However, real job security comes from long-term commitments. “Not three months after the sale docs were signed, USS tried to wiggle out of its promises! We pushed back on USS’s flimsy excuse and USS backed down for now, announcing that they’ve reversed course and will continue operations in Granite City. Now we must keep the pressure on!”

This story was originally published September 19, 2025 at 4:13 PM.