Steel Mills

Nucor to Build $100 Million Melt Shop at One of Its Western Bar Mills

Written by Michael Cowden

September 21, 2021

Nucor plans to build a new, $100 million melt shop at one of its bar mills in the western United States.

The melt shop is expected to have capacity of 600,000 tons per year and is slated to start up in 2024, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said. It is also anticipated to create 140 new, full-time jobs.

rebar“The new melt shop will help us maintain our market-leading position in steel bar production and help us meet anticipated growth for bar products from our customers,” Dan Needham, Nucor’s executive vice president of bar and rebar fabrication products, said in a statement.

Nucor has 15 bar mills in the United States. Three are located near or west of the Rocky Mountains: Nucor Steel Utah in Plymouth, Utah; Nucor Steel Kingman in Kingman, Ariz.; and Nucor Steel Seattle in Seattle, Wash., the company’s website indicates.

Nucor also owns The David J. Joseph Co. (DJJ), one of the largest scrap processors and brokers in the U.S.

DJJ’s holdings on the West Coast and in the Rocky Mountains area include Western Metals Recycling, which is based in Sandy, Utah. Western Metals in addition has a location in Plymouth.

Nucor did not indicate in its press release which of its western bar mills might receive the new melt shop.

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.

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