Gerdau Ameristeel to Expand Rolling Capacity at Jacksonville Mill
01/25/2008 - Gerdau Ameristeel has begun the planning process for a capital project to expand rolling mill capacity at its Jacksonville Steel Mill.
Gerdau Ameristeel Corp. has begun the planning process for a capital project to expand its Jacksonville Steel Mill, located in Baldwin, Fla.
The expansion is expected to add approximately 400,000 tons of annual capacity to the company’s Jacksonville rolling mill. The expansion will match the capacity of the rolling mill to the facility's meltshop, which was recently expanded to a melting capacity of more than 1,000,000 tons per year.
“This planned expansion will complete our plans to have a global-scale rebar plant in Florida to serve the Southeastern United States with the highest-quality, lowest-cost products in the industry,” said J. Neal McCullohs, Vice President of Commercial and Downstream Operations. “We have been a market leader in rebar in this region and we believe this project will enable us to continue to serve our customers long into the future.”
The company said that an engineering team is well into the planning process for the expansion. Following the expansion, which is expected to be completed by 2010, the Jacksonville Mill’s primary products will continue to be rebar and wire rod.
Gerdau Ameristeel is the second-largest minimill steel producer in North America with annual manufacturing capacity of approximately 12 million tons of mill-finished steel products. Through its vertically integrated network of 19 minimills (including one 50%-owned joint venture minimill), 19 scrap recycling facilities and 62 downstream operations, Gerdau Ameristeel serves customers throughout the United States and Canada. The company's products are generally sold to steel service centers, steel fabricators, or directly to original equipment manufacturers for use in a wide variety of industries.
