US Steel receives green funding toward Big River 2 mill

US Steel will use proceeds from recently closed “green bonds” to partially fund equipment and facilities at its upcoming Big River 2 flat-rolled steelmaking facility in Arkansas, the company announced on Tuesday September 6

The Arkansas Development Finance Authority environmental improvement revenue bonds total $290 million and are designated for use toward “eligible green projects,” according to a release issued by the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.

US Steel will use the proceeds to “partially fund work related to its solid waste disposal facilities, including two electric-arc furnaces and other equipment and facilities at […] Big River 2,” the company said.

“Friday’s closing on the green bonds reinforces our commitment to achieving our 2030 greenhouse gas emissions intensity-reduction and 2050 net-zero goals,” David B. Burritt, US Steel president and chief executive officer, said.

The green bonds have a coupon rate of 5.45% and carry a final maturity of 2052. Under the agreement with the Arkansas bond issuer, US Steel will pay semiannual interest.

Construction of Big River 2, near Osceola, Arkansas, is expected to finish in 2024 with a 3-million-ton annual capacity. The mill is expected to operate with as much as 70-80% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional blast furnaces.

US Steel separately repurchased approximately $300 million of outstanding debt last week, the company noted in the same release.

What to read next
Toyota’s $3.6 billion investment to build a new assembly line in San Antonio, Texas, will shift demand for US steel and auto parts from Mexico to the US, according to market analysts.
With steel reinforcing bar (rebar) producer Hybar’s first mill in Osceola, Arkansas, in operation for only nine months, the company announced last week that it had raised $1.1 billion to build a second rebar expansion mill next to the existing one.
China’s direct flat steel trade with the EU was already thin, at just 3-5% of total exports, or around 2 million tonnes a year, thanks to years of anti-dumping and countervailing duties. That leaves little room for the bloc’s newly tightened import quotas to inflict much additional direct damage, sources told Fastmarkets.
The transition of the iron ore market to a 61% Fe pricing benchmark is reshaping trading dynamics and leading participants across the value chain to reassess grade preferences, emerging demand centers and the growing importance of product quality in a decarbonizing steel sector, according to panelists speaking at the panel discussion “The benchmark transition ​and its implication from different voices​” at Iron Ore Decoded 2026, a conference co-organized by Fastmarkets and Horizon Insights.​
Fastmarkets has calculated its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) Certificate Index at a price only slightly below the official average price for the first quarter of this year, when the regime was brought into operation.
Iron ore market participants said Simandou’s production ramp-up remains on track to meet market expectations, with growing exports from Guinea expected to influence freight markets, high-grade ore pricing and steel decarbonization strategies.