MethodologyContact usSupportLogin
Key takeaways:
In a social media post published on June 16, JSW Steel USA said it had rolled its first fully degassed 12-inch slab following more than $145 million in upgrades, including the installation of a twin-tank vacuum degasser and the rebuilding of one caster strand with dynamic soft reduction.
The expanded capabilities at Mingo Junction will allow the facility to internally supply requirements and volumes that had previously depended on imported material, Fastmarkets learned from a company source.
According to the source, the development is expected to enable the Ohio facility to meet the requirements of JSW Steel USA’s operation in Baytown, Texas, which processes slab into hot-rolled plate and longitudinal submerged arc-welded (LSAW) pipe.
The development has fueled questions among market participants over whether the company could reduce its reliance on imported slab, potentially affecting demand for Brazilian material in the US market.
The company said the caster can now produce both 9-inch and 12-inch slab, expanding the range of grades that can be supplied from the Ohio facility. JSW Steel USA also said only a handful of domestic mills are capable of producing fully degassed slabs in those dimensions.
“This integrates more of our production domestically and advances our goal of being a premier melted-and-manufactured-in-the-USA plate, [hot-rolled coil] and pipe producer,” the company told Fastmarkets.
JSW Steel USA added that Mingo Junction’s electric-arc furnace (EAF) has a published nameplate capacity of 1.5 million short tons per year, although the company declined to disclose how much of that capacity is allocated to slab production. Per the company, the upgrade investment was aimed at expanding product capabilities and quality rather than increasing overall tonnage.
The absence of volume guidance has made it difficult for market participants to estimate the potential impact on slab imports. Nevertheless, the possibility that a portion of previously imported material could be replaced by domestic production has drawn attention in a market already facing changing trade flows.
The discussion comes at a particularly sensitive moment for Brazilian slab exporters.
Market participants have reported softer demand from Europe in recent months, while competition from alternative origins has intensified and opportunities for spot business have become more limited.
The US has historically been one of the most important destinations for Brazilian semi-finished steel exports. According to Brazilian Customs data obtained from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services’ (MDIC) Comex Stat, shipments of semi-finished steel products to the US averaged approximately 3.3 million tonnes per year between 2000 and 2025.
More recently, however, shipments have trended lower than a year earlier. Brazilian exports of semi-finished steel products to the US totaled approximately 2.08 million tonnes in January-May 2026, down by around 21% from 2.63 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2025.
The decline also coincides with the implementation of the US Section 232 tariff increase to 50% on imported steel in June 2025, which may have influenced trade flows.
Against that backdrop, any reduction in purchases by a regular buyer could further increase competition for available demand.
According to a trader source, tighter spot availability earlier this year encouraged some buyers to seek and accelerate alternative supply arrangements, a dynamic that could become more significant if consumers become less dependent on imported slabs.
The timing is particularly relevant because slab availability has already started to normalize following a period of tight supply earlier this year.
Multiple market sources have said in recent months that the tight supply was largely a result of ArcelorMittal Brasil prioritizing shipments within its own European operations, following maintenance announced last year at both the plants in Fos-sur-Mer and Dunkirk, France. Dunkirk has already partially resumed operations, and ArcelorMittal has indicated that it may restart its mill at Fos-sur-Mer in June.
Per an article published by Fastmarkets on February 19, European mills booked more than 300,000 tonnes of Brazilian steel slab, with producers potentially choosing to feed their rolling mills with imported feedstock rather than increase their own steel production due to high carbon permit costs linked to the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
“The strategy of selling within the group in the first half will prove costly,” the trader source said.
In the trader’s view, the consequences of such decisions do not necessarily become visible immediately, but can emerge over time as buyers diversify supply chains and reduce reliance on traditional suppliers.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel slab export, fob main port Brazil was $575-590 per tonne on Friday June 19, down by $5-10 per tonne from $580-600 per tonne in the previous week, in its third consecutive weekly decline.
After six consecutive months of rises between November 2025 and April 2026, Brazilian slab prices have now fallen by 4.18% since May 4, when Fastmarkets recorded the first downward movement following that period of increases.
Not all market participants expect the project to significantly alter slab trade flows.
A Brazilian producer source questioned whether the additional capabilities at JSW Steel USA would materially affect US import demand, arguing that the volume associated with the project remains relatively small compared with overall US steel consumption.
According to the producer source, imported slab is expected to remain part of the company’s supply strategy despite the expanded capabilities at Mingo Junction.
Understand current steel price trends and access hundreds of historical steel prices in one place. Find out more about Fastmarkets’ steel prices here.