Nucor Breaks Ground in St. James Parish DRI Project
03/08/2011 - Nucor has broken ground on its DRI facility that will be located in St. James Parish, La. The company also named Lester Hart as General Manager of the St. James Parish facility.
Nucor Corp. has broken ground on its direct reduced iron (DRI) making facility that will be located in St. James Parish, La. The company also announced that Lester Hart has been named the General Manager of the St. James Parish facility.
Direct reduction technology converts natural gas and iron ore pellets into high-quality direct reduced iron that will be used by Nucor's steel mills, along with recycled scrap, to produce high quality steel products such as sheet, plate and special bar quality steel.
The St. James Parish DRI facility is the first phase of a multi-phase plan that may include a coke plant, blast furnace, pellet plant and steel mill.
The company received its air permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in January after meeting all of the requisite standards ensuring its facility will comply with state and federal environmental controls. Issuance of the air permit allowed the company to begin the process of ordering equipment, and the company will now commence construction.
Nucor's Chairman and CEO, Dan DiMicco, spoke at the event, alongside Governor Bobby Jindal and Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret.
"We are very excited to be here in St. James Parish to break ground on our $750 million DRI-facility. This facility is an important investment for our company and the state of Louisiana," said DiMicco.
"Our nation's economy has been long-suffering, and strong, solid manufacturing growth is the path back to solid economic growth. At a time when job creation is vital to our nation's economic success, we need more capital investments like this one that are the result of the public and private sectors working together. We would like to thank Governor Bobby Jindal, Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret, local officials and members of the St. James Parish community for their support of this project."
The project's first phase will create 150 permanent Nucor jobs that earn an average annual salary of $75,000, plus benefits; approximately twice the median household income for that part of Louisiana. During peak construction, 500 jobs will be directly created.
While Nucor plans to build just one DRI plant initially at St. James Parish, the site has been permitted for the construction and operation of two plants with a combined annual DRI production of 5,500,000 tons. The DRI facility is the first phase of a multi-phase plan that the company says could include a coke plant, blast furnace, pellet plant and steel mill.
If the additional phases of the project are constructed, over time Nucor could have a total investment of over $3 billion and increase permanent employment to more than 1000. To date the company has invested over $50 million to acquire approximately 4000 acres of property on the Mississippi River for the facility.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Nucor and affiliates manufacture steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include carbon and alloy steel bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; light gauge steel framing; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, one of the leading scrap companies in the U.S., also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor is North America's largest recycler.
