Reline or Revitalize: The Narrowing Window to Modernize the US Steel Industry

This report by RMI argues that the US steel industry faces a critical decision point regarding seven aging coal-based blast furnaces in the Great Lakes region. The author contends that investing hundreds of millions of dollars to 'reline' these furnaces to extend their life by 20 years risks creating stranded assets, perpetuating severe local pollution, and missing the transition to low-emissions steel. Instead, the report advocates for a transition to Hydrogen-Ready Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) coupled with Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) to ensure long-term competitiveness and align with climate goals.

• Seven coal-based blast furnaces in the Great Lakes region, located in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, account for 31% of domestic US steel production and employ 18,000 workers. Despite their smaller production share, these plants generate approximately 75 percent of the industry’s emissions.
• Steel producers face a narrowing window to modernize as several blast furnaces—including Dearborn Works, Burns Harbor, and Gary Works—must decide before 2030 whether to invest up to $400 million to reline and extend operations for another 20 years or pivot to cleaner technologies.
• Current coal-based steelmaking assets are identified as major industrial polluters in their states, with all operating blast furnaces falling within the worst 15 percent of industrial plants in their respective states for predicted health risk. Relining these sites would lock in exposure to criteria air pollutants for over two decades.
• The report argues that proposed partial decarbonization methods like Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen (H2) injection are insufficient. CCUS is described as costly and logistically challenging; for example, a project at Gary Works is expected to capture less than 1 percent of total site-level process emissions. H2 injection is estimated to reduce direct emissions by approximately 20 percent.
• Transitioning to H2-Ready Direct Reduction (DRI) and Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) technology is presented as the most viable path to near-zero emissions. While a new DRI plant costs between $600M and $800M—more than the $150M to $425M required for relining—it is projected to support more jobs, including an additional 750 full-time upstream jobs and 2,290 indirect and induced jobs per 2 Mpta of steel production.

APA

RMI (2025). Reline or Revitalize: The Narrowing Window to Modernize the US Steel Industry. https://rmi.org/resources/reline-or-revitalize-the-narrowing-window-to-modernize-the-us-steel-industry/

Chicago

RMI. Reline or Revitalize: The Narrowing Window to Modernize the US Steel Industry. 2025. https://rmi.org/resources/reline-or-revitalize-the-narrowing-window-to-modernize-the-us-steel-industry/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Reline or Revitalize: The Narrowing Window to Modernize the US Steel Industry |date=30 January 2025 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/reline-or-revitalize-the-narrowing-window-to-modernize-the-us-steel-industry/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2025reline, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Reline or Revitalize: The Narrowing Window to Modernize the US Steel Industry}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/reline-or-revitalize-the-narrowing-window-to-modernize-the-us-steel-industry/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }