In an announcement Monday morning, Nucor executives said they have secured board approval for the mill, which will be capable of producing 1.2 million tons of plate annually. It’s to open in 2022 and will make cut-to-length, coiled, heat-treated and discrete plate in widths ranging from 60 inches to 160 inches and in gauges ranging from 3/16 of an inch to 14 inches. 

“By building this state-of-the-art plate mill in the Midwest – the largest plate-consuming area in the United States – we will enhance our ability to serve our customers in the region while also furthering our goal of meeting all the steel needs of our customers around the country,” said Leon Topalian, Nucor’s executive vice president of beam and plate products. 

Nucor hasn’t yet chosen a site for the mill, but is considering locations in four states -- Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio.

The mill primarily will consist of an electric arc furnace meltshop with a twin-ladle metallurgy furnace and vacuum degassing, a caster, a Steckel mill, and in-line heat treatment. The mill also is being designed to produce ingot-based plate and therefore will be equipped with ingot pouring capabilities.  

The company said the mill will have 65,000 tons of ingot plate capacity and 120,000 tons of heat-treat capacity. 
During a conference call with analysts, Nucor chairman and chief executive John Ferriola called the mill a strategic, long-term investment aimed at profitable growth. 

He said that the Trump administration’s efforts on tax reform, deregulation and steel trade have helped to create a favorable climate for such investments, but he said that nearly two dozen plate-specific trade actions, which have been imposed over the past several years, have curtailed shipments of unfairly traded imports, creating an opening for such a project.

Taken together, it all adds up as a sound investment, he said. 

“All of those factors are driving the decision to take this action.”  

Furthermore, he said Nucor sees an opportunity specifically in the Midwest for a large, low-cost mill that can take advantage of proximity to consumers and abundant supplies of scrap already controlled in-house. 

“We believe being right there in the Midwest will give us an incredible freight advantage,” he said. “We have a great deal of confidence that, given the low cost structure of this mill, given the quality of product that this mill is going to produce and given the breadth of products that this mill will be able to produce, we will be very successful in the market.”

Nucor said that between the new mill and its existing plate facilities, it will be able to produce 97% of the types and sizes of plate demanded by the U.S. market.