Steel Mills
Nucor Louisiana DRI Plant Still Down on Ida-Induced Barge Shortage
Written by Michael Cowden
September 14, 2021
Nucor’s direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Covent, La., remains down after being pre-emptively idled ahead of Hurricane Ida last month.
The reason: the storm resulted in a barge shortage on the Mississippi River, a Nucor spokeswoman said.
“We are prepared to resume operations as soon as additional barges are available,” she said.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker does not expect steelmaking to be interrupted by the lack of DRI output from Louisiana.
“At this time, our divisions have an adequate supply of DRI, so we do not anticipate this will have any impact on our steel production or our ability to serve our customers,” the spokeswoman said.
DRI can be used as an alternative to prime scrap.
The Convent facility, officially known as Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC, has capacity of 2.5 million tons per year, according to the 2021 Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Directory of Iron and Steel Plants.
Nucor operates DRI plants in Convent – roughly 60 miles from New Orleans – and in Trinidad.
The Convent plant typically feeds Nucor’s inland mills and the Trinidad facility those located near the coast.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
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