“Our investment at Keetac is a commitment to the future of American steel,” U. S. Steel president and chief executive David B. Burritt said in a statement. 

The project will enable the steelmaker to produce direct-reduction grade pellets, a new product for U. S. Steel. U. S. Steel said the project will give it the flexibility to feed a potential future direct reduced iron (DRI) or hot-briquetted iron (HBI) facility or sell the pellets to third-party HBI or DRI producers. 

The upgrade is expected to be completed in late 2023, with the first pellets becoming available in 2024.