"We are excited to expand our presence in Mexico and to use our local sales network to increase our sales into this important automotive market," Nucor president and chief executive Leon Topalian said in a statement. "We are proud to partner with JFE Steel Corp. of Japan and to benefit from their experience as a premier supplier of high-quality products to the automotive industry."

The continuous galvanizing facility has a nameplate capacity of 400,000 tons and can coat sheet in thicknesses between 0.4 mm and 2.6 mm and in widths between 800 mm and 1,850 mm. Nucor and JFE will each supply an equal amount of substrate to be coated at the new facility.

The facility has begun trial production and will move toward commercial sales and production once customer approvals have been obtained, Nucor said.