Nucor Plans $1.35 Billion Ohio River Plate Mill
Nucor Corporation announced March 27 that it will build a new state of the art steel plate mill in Brandenburg, Ky., along the Ohio River southwest of Louisville.
The company will invest approximately $1.35 billion to build the mill, which will be capable of producing 1.2 million tons per year of steel plate products. When completed, the plate mill will employ more than 400 full-time workers at an average annual salary of $72,000, and is expected to be fully operational in 2022, pending permit and regulatory approvals.
“This strategic investment will enable us to build a clear market leadership position in the U.S. plate market. Kentucky is an excellent location for this mill, right in the center of America’s largest plate consuming region,” said John Ferriola, chairman, CEO and president of Nucor Corporation. “Our acquisition of the Gallatin sheet mill in Ghent, Ky., five years ago has been a tremendous success, and we are pleased to add a second mill in the state.”
The new plate mill will significantly strengthen Nucor’s plate product portfolio, giving the company the ability to produce 97 percent of the products demanded in the domestic plate market, including the specialty higher-margin products. The mill will produce cut-to-length, coiled, heat-treated, and discrete plate ranging from 60 to 160 inches wide, and in gauges from 3/16 of an inch to 14 inches.
The selected location on the Ohio River will give Nucor logistical advantages in sourcing raw materials and serving customers throughout the Midwest. Nucor currently operates plate mills in North Carolina, Alabama and Texas.
Nucor has two additional major investment projects underway at its Gallatin sheet mill in Kentucky. Nucor Steel Gallatin’s new galvanizing line will be operational during the second quarter of this year. And, its project to increase Gallatin’s hot rolled coil capacity at expanded widths of up to 73 inches is expected to come online during 2021.
The new plate mill and the projects at Nucor Steel Gallatin represent more than $2 billion in investments in the state of Kentucky.
“We would like to thank Gov. Matt Bevin, officials with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and local officials in Brandenburg and Meade County for their help and support of this project,” said Leon Topalian, executive vice president of beam and plate products. “We are looking forward to being part of the Brandenburg community.”
Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel and steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include carbon and alloy steel—in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; precision castings; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh.
Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron / direct reduced iron; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America’s largest recycler.
