Steel Mills

DJJ Acquisitions to Boost Scrap Capacity by 10% as Nucor Expands Mills

October 1, 2021

The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ) has acquired two recycling operations that are expected to increase its capacity by 10%, parent company Nucor Corp. said.

DJJ’s deals – terms of which were not disclosed – will support the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s growth strategy and increase its ability to secure scrap for its electric arc furnace (EAF) mills.

Nucor DJJ subsidiary Advantage Metals Recycling (AMR) on Sept. 30 completed its purchase of St. Louis-based recycler Grossman Iron and Steel, Nucor said in a press release on Friday, Oct. 1.

The deal will boost the number of AMR’s recycling facilities to 12. “They are well positioned to support our growing steelmaking capacity along the Mississippi and Ohio river system,” AMR Vice President and General Manager Mark Schaefer said in a statement.

Grossman, founded in 1920, has a full-service ferrous and nonferrous scrap recycling facility as well as an automobile shredder.

Meanwhile, Trade Metals Recycling LLC (TMR), another DJJ subsidiary, has agreed to acquire Fort Myers, Fla.-based Garden Street Iron & Metal Inc. in a deal expected to close on Oct. 4, Nucor said.

Garden Street “will seamlessly add to our strong presence in the Florida market,” TMR General Manager Brian Phillippi said in a statement.

Garden Street, established in 1989, operates three ferrous and nonferrous scrap recycling facilities as well as a shredder.

DJJ, one of the largest scrap processors and brokers in the U.S., was acquired by Nucor for $1.44 billion in March 2008.

The acquisition has served Nucor well as the steelmaker has expanded in the years since. The company’s most recent expansion on the flat rolled side is a planned $2.7 billion, 3-million tpy electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill that will be built in either Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia. Nucor is also building a plate mill in Brandenburg, Ky., which is located along the banks of the Ohio River.

Steel mills – including Nucor competitor Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. – are looking at scrap assets because ferrous scrap is becoming a “precious metal” as more EAF capacity is built around the world, Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has said.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is managing editor for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.