Steel Mills

Nucor Targets East Coast, Infrastructure With Third Rebar 'Micro Mill'

December 7, 2021

Nucor Corp. plans to build a new, $350 million rebar “micro mill” in the South Atlantic region of the U.S.

The new mill is expected to have capacity of 430,000 tons per year, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said.

Nucor

“We have recently executed two successful rebar micro mill start-ups and believe the East Coast market will be in need of additional rebar supply in the coming years, particularly with the recent passage of the infrastructure spending bill,” Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian said in a statement on Monday, Dec. 6.

Nucor started up micro mills in Sedalia, Mo., and Frostproof, Fla., in 2020.

Micro mills have less capacity than traditional rebar mills and are targeted to serve specific locations, giving them a leg up on freight costs from competitng mills farther away.

The South Atlantic region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the District of Columbia and eight states: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.

President Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law in November. Rebar is more closely tied to construction work than most other steel products.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) estimates that the infrastructure bill authorizes funding for $850 billion in steel-containing infrastructure, which equates to as much as 40-45 million tons of steel demand in total. But that figure drops to $450 billion – or 20-25 million tons of new steel demand – once existing trust funds are considered.

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.