Editorial: What does U.S. Steel's $100 million announcement mean?

A promise has been made for the Pittsburgh steel industry.

Again.

Last week, U.S. Steel announced it was committing $100 million to a new slag recycler at the Edgar Thompson Works in Braddock.

Any investment in the steel industry facilities throughout Western Pennsylvania is more than an investment in equipment and architecture and technology — or, at least, it feels like it.

The Edgar Thompson Works began churning out metal for Andrew Carnegie in 1875. It has seen 150 years of production, with thousands and thousands of employees making the steel that made Pittsburgh famous.

It didn’t just build the bones of the nation, the arteries of the railroads and the hulking skeletons of ships. It fed families. It put kids through school. It allowed communities to create museums, attend theater and worship in churches.

Investment in the industry has translated to blue collar jobs that supported the region, with a potential for upward mobility.

And thus, when investment is promised, it creates a stir. It isn’t a gift to employees, as the investment is for the company itself. But by putting money into the facilities, it feels like an unspoken nod toward continued employment.

On the flip side, when promises are broken, it can feel personal to the employees and the community.

In May 2019, U.S. Steel promised a $1 billion investment in the Mon Valley Works. That promise was walked back in 2021. In 2024, Nippon Steel made more promises to put “no less than $1 billion” into the facilities as part of the push to buy U.S. Steel.

In June, Nippon made a commitment to put $11 billion over three years into U.S. Steel facilities, including the Mon Valley Works, as part of the merging of the companies. At least $1 billion was aimed at the Pittsburgh region. It is not clear yet whether the $100 million is part of that prior commitment or in addition to it.

It does give hope for a better future for the industry, however. Recycling slag — the removed impurities of the steelmaking process — is a good thing. Any effort to better and more efficiently utilize the byproducts of steel production is a positive.

It speaks of being a good neighbor, which is a good early step for Nippon. It also comes on the heels of the August explosion at the Clairton Coke Works that killed two people. Continued investment after that is a step in the right direction.

There is more for the new Nippon-U.S. Steel hybrid to do. There is environmental impact to address. There is the aftermath of that deadly explosion. There will be contract negotiations next year.

It’s too early to say if the new investment announcement is as good as it might seem. But it is promising.