Steel Industry Vets Investing Nearly US$37 Million in North America's 'Most Advanced' Cold Finished Bar Mill
03/29/2016 - A start-up company has selected Valparaiso, Ind., as the home of what it says will be North America’s most advanced cold drawn bar mill and plans to begin operations in 2017.
In a statement, Nuco Steel Bar Technologies said it is investing US$36.9 million in the greenfield facility, which will make cold finished steel bars for customers in the auto, agricultural, off-road equipment, and tool-making sectors. Nuco said the facility will have a continuous production line, allowing it to draw, process and package bars in line.
"It has the ability to process the bar continuously instead of in stages where operators are taking off the line before the next step," Nuco founder Michael Pitterich told The Times newspaper of northwest Indiana. "It's on the forefront."
Pitterich owns Col-Fin Specialty Steel and Beaver Valley Heat Treat in Pennsylvania, as well as Canada’s Union Drawn Steel. He is starting Nuco with former Nelsen Steel executive vice president Jim Sarwark, who is Col-Fin’s chief operating officer.
"Our years of experience in the marketplace showed us a need for an automated mill dedicated to the customer," Pitterich told The Times. "Many customers are being served by imports, but this would be more cost-efficient."
The new plant is to be in full production by the second quarter of 2017. It will be outfitted with a Danieli draw bench and be capable of drawing rounds of up to five inches, flats in dimensions of up to 2-by-12 inches, and squares of up to 4.5 inches.
"It has the ability to process the bar continuously instead of in stages where operators are taking off the line before the next step," Nuco founder Michael Pitterich told The Times newspaper of northwest Indiana. "It's on the forefront."
Pitterich owns Col-Fin Specialty Steel and Beaver Valley Heat Treat in Pennsylvania, as well as Canada’s Union Drawn Steel. He is starting Nuco with former Nelsen Steel executive vice president Jim Sarwark, who is Col-Fin’s chief operating officer.
"Our years of experience in the marketplace showed us a need for an automated mill dedicated to the customer," Pitterich told The Times. "Many customers are being served by imports, but this would be more cost-efficient."
The new plant is to be in full production by the second quarter of 2017. It will be outfitted with a Danieli draw bench and be capable of drawing rounds of up to five inches, flats in dimensions of up to 2-by-12 inches, and squares of up to 4.5 inches.
