Steel Mills

Big River Steel CEO John Correnti Dead at Age 68
Written by John Packard
August 19, 2015
A huge hole has been made in the heart the US steel industry. Big River Steel CEO John Correnti died this morning while on an out-of-town business trip.
John Correnti, 68, was no stranger to the development of steel mills. His plan to build the mini-mill in Osceola, Ark. was backed by almost 50 years of experience in the steel industry.
Correnti began his steel experience in 1969 in construction management at US Steel. He joined Nucor Corporation in 1980 as manager of construction and developed methods that cut construction time of new steel facilities by 50 percent. He was promoted to Vice President in 1984 then to Chief Operating Officer. Correnti took over as president of Nucor following Ken Iverson’s resignation in 1991 and then as Nucor’s president and CEO from 1996 to 1999.
In 2000 he led a successful proxy fight to take over Birmingham Steel and then served as its CEO and Chairman until its sale to Nucor in 2002. Correnti moved on to develop SteelCorr, LLC as Chairman, CEO and President. He founded SeverCorr LLC in 2005, which eventually became Severstal Columbus LLC, and served as its President and CEO until 2008. The Mississippi mill is now owned by Steel Dynamics
John Correnti was the CEO of Steel Development Company LLC since 1994 as well as a director and member of the audit committee of the Corrections Corporation of America since 2000.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Clarkson University and maintained a home in Blytheville, Ark.
Mr. Correnti was well thought of in the steel industry community and will be missed for his passion, humor and drive.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Mills

Nucor names Batterbee, Bledsoe to HR roles
Nucor Corp. has promoted Thomas J. Batterbee to the position EVP of human resources and talent and appointed Elizabeth Bledsoe to the newly created position of president of human resources and talent.

Millett sees tariffs, CORE case benefiting SDI
Steel Dynamics' top exec thinks Trump’s tariff policies, as well as the results from the recent CORE case, will prove advantageous to the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and aluminum company.

USW digs in on opposition to USS-Nippon deal
“We remain deeply concerned about the national and economic security implications of the subject transaction,” the union stated in the letter dated April 21.

SDI’s Q1 earnings slump on-year, but up sequentially
SDI earnings slip in first quarter year over year, but are up sequentially.

POSCO inks MoU with Hyundai on Louisiana EAF mill
POSCO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyundai Motor Group that includes an equity investment in Hyundai’s previously announced EAF mill set to be built in Louisiana.