During the company’s first-quarter earnings conference call Monday, chief executive Mark Millett said the company is actively pursuing potential sites in Texas and Louisiana. One of those sites appears to be in Sinton, Texas, where local officials have designated a 2,500-acre site as an investment-incentive zone for the project.

Meanwhile, executives said they have defined the specifications for the mill's equipment and are evaluating proposals from two suppliers to equip its hot end. 

Millett said the mill will differentiate itself from other EAF flat-rolled facilities, both in product and process. As for product, the mill will make sheet in widths of 84 inches, in thicknesses of an inch and at tensile strengths of 100 ksi.

As for process, Millett said the mill will have the meltshop of an EAF mini-mill but a hot strip mill that more resembles one at an integrated facility. It will produce thicker casts, he said, and utilize two-stage hot rolling, allowing for production of tougher materials for the automotive and energy markets. The mill also is to be equipped with paint and galvanizing lines.