Nucor Corporation announced on Sept. 16 that it has selected St. James Parish, Louisiana, for the construction of a planned $750 million iron making facility.
Over the past several years, Nucor evaluated multiple sites both in the U.S. and abroad. The company said it selected the St. James Parish site for many reasons, including a very capable work force and the commitment of state and local officials to this project.
"This facility will create good jobs for American workers and, at the same time, it will help Nucor achieve our long-term goal of increasing control over our raw materials supply," said Nucor Chairman and CEO Daniel R. DiMicco.
The 2,500,000 tons-per-year iron making facility will use direct reduction technology to convert natural gas and iron ore pellets into high quality direct reduced iron ("DRI") used by Nucor's steel mills, along with recycled scrap, in producing numerous high quality steel products such as sheet, plate and special bar quality steel. The DRI facility is the first phase of a multi-phase plan that may include an additional DRI facility, coke plant, blast furnace, pellet plant and steel mill.
The DRI facility was chosen for the first phase of our project, in place of a blast furnace and coke making facility, because it offers a carbon footprint that is one-third of that for the coke oven/blast furnace route for the same volume of product but at less than half the capital cost.
"This is a huge win for our state and will ultimately be one of the largest industrial projects in Louisiana history. Nucor's decision to come to Louisiana instead of anywhere else in the nation or the world is not just a tremendous victory for Louisianians, but it also sends a signal far and wide that Louisiana is the best place for businesses to locate, grow and succeed," said Governor Bobby Jindal.
The project's first phase will require a $750 million investment and directly create 500 jobs during peak construction. One hundred and fifty permanent Nucor jobs will be created, earning an average annual salary of $75,000, plus benefits; roughly twice the area's median household income. If the additional phases are built, over time Nucor could invest over $3 billion total at the site and increase permanent employment to more than 1,000.
