“Our modernization project is about expanding the capabilities of our Crawfordsville mill to meet the needs of our customers today and in the future, as well as create opportunities for our team to compete in those markets,” Nucor vice president and Crawfordsville general manager Nathan Fraser said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, according to the newspaper. 

Opened in 1989, the mill is Nucor’s first sheet mill and the site where it pioneered electric arc furnace thin-slab casting. The project primarily includes a US$290 million investment in a continuous galvanizing line and a paint line. 

The galvanizing line will have an annual capacity of 300,000 tons and produce construction-grade sheet. The paint line will have an annual capacity of 250,000 tons. 

The lines are expected to take two years to complete. 

Nucor also will invest roughly US$110 million to upgrade the existing mill over the next five years, the newspaper said.