This is probably one of the strangest things I’ve seen in Iowa in …. well … my lifetime? Some things are hard to swallow, but no surprise, like our sordid tale of water quality; but this? Didn’t see it coming. When you think of the rolling flatlands of this upper Midwest, what comes to mind is corn, beans, farms, hay fields, a land dotted with small towns that is quiet and out of the way. When someone says “steel mill” what do you think of? Probably something like the Rust Belt; maybe you think Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia… those ghosts of a bygone era that make for good movies and TV shows. One does not initially connect Iowa with steel.
To be fair, if you pay attention or care about these sorts of things, Iowa has long had a bustling manufacturing core. According to this report, Iowa’s GDP is at least partly made up of one large chunk… manufacturing.
“Iowa’s manufacturing industry generated nearly $35 billion in real GDP in 2025, beating finance and insurance (~$31 billion in real GDP) as the top GDP contributor in the state.” – report
Who would have thought? But consider long-standing manufacturers like John Deere; I guess it isn’t that far-fetched. But, back to the steel.
