Indiana leads nation in steel production after 12.5% jump (2024)

Indiana led the nation in steel production last year, maintaining the top spot it has held nationally for more than four decades.

"Indiana was No. 1," said Ashley Romberg, the digital and online manager of the American Iron and Steel Institute, a Washington D.C.-based trade association that represents the United States of America's steel industry.

The Hoosier State made 24.3 million tons of steel in 2021, up from 21.6 million tons in 2020. Neighboring Ohio, the home of North America's largest flat-rolled steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, ranked No. 2 nationwide in steel production.

Much of the steel production in Indiana occurs at the hulking integrated steel mills that ring Lake Michigan's South Shore in Northwest Indiana, where Cleveland-Cliffs, U.S. Steel and NLMK Indiana operate mills. Lake and Porter counties account for about half the nation's blast furnace capacity.

Many major steel distributors move metal in Northwest Indiana, including Republic Steel, Alliance Steel, AAA Supply Corp., Kenwai Steel, TMS International, Ratner Steel Supplies, Crossroads Steel Supply, Adriatic Steel Co., Leeco Steel, Bayshore Metal, Serve Steel, Coltrade Inc., RW Conklin Steel Supply, Steel Cities Steels, Chicago Specialty Steels and Steel Supply Corp.

The Hoosier State is also home toSteel Dynamics in Fort Wayne and a Nucor mini mill in Crawfordsville.

Indiana has led the nation in steel production since at least 1977, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Steelmaking used to be spread out more across the nation, but the domestic steel industry suffered major setbacks during the 1970s when foreign competition and cheap imports shuttered many mills and hollowed out mill towns around the country.

Much of the country's steel production consolidated in Northwest Indiana because of its strategic location on the Great Lake, where it has easy access to limestone, co*ke and other steelmaking inputs. Lake freighters for instance haul iron ore from Minnesota's Iron Range and northern Michigan down to the South Shore, which enjoys a major cost advantage in terms of raw materials.

Northwest Indiana also is close to many steel consumers, including the auto factories in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and downstate Indiana.

Last year, Indiana single-handedly accounted for about a quarter of the nation's steel production. The American Iron and Steel Institute estimates U.S. steel mills shipped 94.7 million tons of steel last year, a 16.9% increase as compared to the 81 million tons of steel shipped in 2020.

Indiana's steel output made up more than 25.6% of the nation's steel shipments.

The state's steel production, however, still has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Indiana made 24.7 million tons of steel in 2019.