California Erects First Steel Mill In Half-Century

Pacific Steel Group is building California’s first new steel mill in more than 50 years, a Kern County rebar plant whose cost has grown by about $160 million since the project was announced.

The company broke ground on the Mojave Micro Mill in March 2025. The governor’s office says Pacific Steel won a $30 million California Competes tax credit in 2024 in exchange for committing to more than $540 million in capital investment and nearly 450 new jobs in the mill’s first five years of operation.

The same release puts total expected job creation at nearly 700, the figure American Greatness uses below.

As American Greatness notes further, local officials are sweetening the deal with a lucrative $3 million tax incentive that could reward the company with approximately $7,500 for every new job created.

Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office released a statement saying, “This project will bring steel manufacturing back to the Golden State and localize the supply chain – supporting a transition to clean, in-state manufacturing of materials essential for public infrastructure like roads, bridges and hospitals.”

The construction of the new mill is surprising to many, considering the state’s Democratic lawmakers and residents lean more toward green energy over that produced by fossil fuel.

Mark Olson, Pacific Steel’s vice president of mill operations, told the SF Gate that the project will deliver “the only steel plant in California that both melts and rolls steel products.”

Olson added, “Our state-of-the-art facility will demonstrate that large-scale industrial manufacturing can thrive in California while leveraging the state’s commitment to renewable energy and a more sustainable industrial future.”

Pacific Steel officials confirmed this week that although the project is running on time, the cost has ballooned from $540 million to about $700 million.

The manufacturing powerhouse is expected to employ welders, electricians, millwrights, computer systems engineers and specialists in automation and robotics.