In announcing SDI’s fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, Mark Millett said the two paint lines and two galvanizing lines will, in total, increase the company’s value-added flat-rolled capacity by 1.1 million tons.

The new lines were installed as a set, one of each at its Sinton, Texas, plant, and its Heartland facility in Indiana.  

SDI president and chief operating officer Barry Schneider told investors during the company’s earnings call that the ramp-up of the Sinton plant is continuing. The facility was running at an average 65% of capability in November and December, he said, and is running even stronger this month. 

The plan is to throttle up at the end of the quarter, Schneider said, by unstrapping certain transformers and allowing access to the mill’s full potential. 

On another front, Millett said the company’s planned biocarbon facility in Mississippi is progressing well, with plant operations set to start before the end of this year. 

“This project is a key to our further decarbonization strategy for our already low-carbon emissions steel offerings,” Millett said. 
For the quarter, Steel Dynamics posted a profit of US$424.3 million, or US$2.63 per diluted share, on sales of US$4.2 billion.