We still build steel mills near cheap sources of transportation, but it used to be that they tended to be near sources of coke and iron ore, such as in Le Creus

We still build steel mills near cheap sources of transportation, but it used to be that they tended to be near sources of coke and iron ore, such as in Le Creusot in Eastern France. Nowadays the big steel mills get their ore and coke through ships. There are also direct reduction mills that don't use coke and are often located near a source of natural gas. One example of an instance were steelmaking and data centers meet is Facebook's Luleå operation, built in an iron ore port town: loads of hydroelectric power, good infrastructure, and cold.