A STRANGE KIND OF "BEST OF BOTH."

United States Steel have added an electric arc furnace to their Fairfield, Alabama works, which is one of two integrated mills in the Birmingham area.  I'm not sure what to make of the corporate-speak that accompanies this installation, which strikes me as routine and mundane.  "The company’s 'Best of Both' integrated and mini-mill technology strategy is advancing a more secure, sustainable future for U. S. Steel and its stakeholders. With renewed emphasis on innovation and customer focus, the company produces cutting-edge products such as U. S. Steel’s proprietary XG3™ advanced high-strength steel."  Electric furnaces have long been present at integrated steel works, there might even have been some at United States Steel back in the day, when they did the kind of fine-tuning of tool steels or stainless steel that couldn't be done in the open hearth.  In addition, the company once built a mini-mill-style (meaning electric furnace, continuous caster, limited product line) plant in Baytown, Texas.  But the experiment in two systems, one company, eventually came a cropper (didn't that happen to the Saturn division of General Motors as well?) and the plant, steel plants being even harder to erase than kudzu, is now operated by somebody called JW Steel.  I confess to not following industry developments as closely these days as I once did.