Republic Steel Lorain Plant
Large load · 1807 E 28TH ST, Lorain, OH
Republic Steel's Lorain plant at 1807 E. 28th Street sits on the Black River in Lorain, Ohio, with an electric arc furnace, continuous casters and billet and bar rolling mills. Republic is a special bar quality steelmaker. A $120 million electric arc furnace investment began melting in February 2025, and by November 2025 the company reported its 1,000th heat at Lorain. By June 2026 local reporting described the complex as mostly quiet, and federal records still classify the facility as idled. Trade press names Grupo Simec as the owner.
Overview
Republic said in November 2025 that it had produced its 1,000th heat at the Lorain plant after a $120 million capital investment in a new electric arc furnace. Melt shop production had continued to increase since the start-up in February 2025, and the bloom caster had completed commissioning. The company said the furnace adds about one million tons of annual steelmaking capacity and will allow higher output on the Lorain 9-10 inch coil mill and the 20 inch bar mill, reducing lead times for customers.
Profile
- Current condition
- By June 2026 the Lorain complex sat mostly quiet while city officials pitched it to investors and developers. Hoodline reported that federal records still categorize the facility as idled and that there were no public commitments from any company. Pellet-terminal cleanup and other brownfield work were underway on the site, which retains deep-water access on the Black River, existing rail spurs and highway connections. City planning materials emphasize that infrastructure as a reason the property still attracts interest.
- Restart interest and ownership
- Steel Market Update reported in November 2025 that international steelmakers, citing US tariffs, were exploring a restart of Republic's shuttered Lorain operations. The article describes the site as a special bar quality steelmaking and rolling complex that includes an electric arc furnace, continuous casters and billet and bar rolling mills, and says it was essentially idled in 2015 and 2016 by Mexican owner Grupo Simec. Hoodline reports that early job projections for a restart range from the hundreds to the low thousands, but that no company has publicly committed.
Facility
- Activity
- Special bar quality (SBQ) steel
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Idled
Related records
Timeline
- Feb 1, 2025
- Melt shop start-up after the new electric arc furnace investment (release gives the month only)
Republic produces 1,000th heat at new EAF in Lorain
- Nov 12, 2025
- Republic reports its 1,000th heat at Lorain after a $120 million EAF investment
Republic produces 1,000th heat at new EAF in Lorain
- Nov 25, 2025
- Steel Market Update reports foreign steelmakers eye a restart of the Lorain operations
Foreign steelmakers eye restart of Republic Steel's Lorain ops - Steel Market Update
- Jun 1, 2026