Steel Dynamics Subsidiary Plans Long Products Galvanizing Facility
09/16/2016 - Steel Dynamics Inc. is expanding its coatings capabilities, establishing a contract galvanizing shop in Kentucky that can treat long products and fabricated steel components.
The facility is largely intended to serve Steel Dynamics’ Steel of West Virginia Inc. subsidiary, but also will seek outside orders, said Steel of West Virginia President Timothy R. Duke. Duke said the facility is to open late next summer or early next fall, adding that equipment has been ordered and construction is underway.
When finished, it will be capable of galvanizing 60,000 tons annually, Duke told AIST’s Steel News.
The facility will be able to galvanize a variety of products, including truck trailer crossmembers, I-beams, guardrail posts, complex fabricated assemblies and parts.
As it is, Steel of West Virginia has to send out products for galvanizing, a situation that creates significant logistical challenges for the business, Duke said. The new facility, to be operated under Steel Dynamics’ Steel Ventures subsidiary, should resolve those challenges.
"Steel of West Virginia customers are wanting more and more galvanized product, and having a reliable galvanizer at our disposal through a company also owned by our parent, Steel Dynamics Inc., is important to keeping our mills and our employees busy," he said in a statement to The (Huntington, W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch newspaper.
He also said there is plenty of outside demand within the region for just such a galvanizing facility.
The facility is being built in northeast Kentucky, about 30 miles from Steel of West Virginia’s Huntington plant. It expects to hire 65 people and is being supported by more than $2 million in tax incentives from the state of Kentucky.
