The Castrip production installation facility at Nucor Corp.'s Crawfordsville, Ind., steel plant, recently cast 7 complete ladles of steel over a 10-hour period.

Total throughput for the record was 832 tons. The new record eclipses the previous best of four consecutive ladles, set in July, and improved the monthly average for sequence length by 50% over the best previous months.

"This is another huge step towards the successful commercialization of the Castrip technology," said Dan DiMicco, Nucor's Vice Chairman, President and CEO. "We are very proud and pleased with the progress made by the Crawfordsville team."

The Crawfordsville facility uses the Castrip^(R) Process for direct strip casting of carbon sheet steel. In addition to the new sequence length record, the plant announced its best ever monthly prime yield result. Prime yield represents the fraction of steel that is made into prime coil as a percentage of the liquid steel delivered to the plant. Longer casting sequences allow higher yields to be achieved, as start-up and tail-out losses are minimized. A prime yield rate of 84% was achieved during July, and the prime yield rate for the record 7-heat sequence was 96%.

Nucor is one of the largest steel producers in the United States and is the nation's largest recycler. Nucor and affiliates manufacture steel products, with operating facilities in fourteen states. Products include carbon and alloy steel bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; and light gauge steel framing. The Crawfordsville Castrip plant began initial commercial operations in late May 2002, and passed its 100,00-ton milestone in June 2004.