Falling Further Behind: How a Failure to Transition to Green Steel Could Cost US Steelmakers, Western Pennsylvania Communities, and the Environment

As the global market continues to decarbonize, the US primary steel industry risks falling further behind absent a large-scale transition to green steelmaking, according to a new report from the Ohio River Valley Institute. On Thursday, November 6, join report authors for a webinar and Q&A for a pulse-check of the global steel industry and a deep dive on the economic opportunities achievable through the pursuit of low-carbon green steel.

US primary steelmaking has already lost considerable ground to China and greater Asia, which collectively produced 70% of the world’s crude steel in 2024. Demand for low-carbon steel presents new market opportunities, but legislation passed by the Trump administration has unraveled federal investment in industrial decarbonization, incentivizing domestic steel manufacturers to double down on carbon-intensive “traditional” steelmaking.

Now, Nippon’s acquisition of US Steel offers a potential opportunity for US steelmakers to make up ground in the global market, creating new steelmaking jobs and slashing harmful, climate-warming emissions from a historically hard-to-decarbonize industry. The Japanese steelmaker has committed $5.5 billion in upgrades between Pennsylvania’s Mon Valley Works and Indiana’s Gary Works, along with an additional $1 billion to construct a new mill at a site yet to be determined.

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