Nucor-Yamato Steel Co. of Blytheville will spend $75 million to install a modern tempering process in its Mississippi County mill, John Ferriola, chief executive officer of Nucor Corp., said Friday.
Construction is scheduled to be completed by the second half of next year, said Keith Prevost, controller for Nucor-Yamato. There will be an average of 40 construction workers on the project with a peak of about 150, Prevost said.
The Nucor-Yamato plant will be the only one in the United States using the process, Prevost said.
The process strengthens the steel as the 200-foot I-beam moves down the line, Prevost said.
"You just drench it with water and cool it down rapidly," Prevost said. "That cools the outside and the inside is still going to be warm. Then it warms back up from the inside out. That physical process makes the steel stronger."
Nucor-Yamato Steel claims the Blytheville mill is now the largest structural steel mill in the Western Hemisphere, employing more than 900 workers and producing more than 2.5 million tons of steel a year.
The $75 million investment will keep Nucor-Yamato the market leader in the United States' wide-flange beam market, Ferriola said in a prepared statement.
"[The upgrade is] a strategic part of the future of our company and will ensure we continue to meet and exceed our customers' needs and requirements," Ferriola said. The investment also will enable Nucor-Yamato to remain in northeast Arkansas well into the future, Ferriola said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who attended the announcement, said Nucor has been an important part of Arkansas' economy for three decades.
"This investment shows their continued commitment to our state," Hutchinson said in a statement.
Nucor-Yamato qualifies for a tax credit of half a percentage point against Arkansas' sales and use tax for businesses that invest more than $5 million, said Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Common applications for the high-grade steel include gravity columns for use in high-rise buildings, long-span trusses for projects such as convention centers or stadiums, and for all projects where seismic design is a critical factor, Nucor-Yamato said.
The stronger steel will allow architects to leave more space between steel columns when designing a building, Prevost said.
The higher strength steel will make steel even more competitive versus concrete and wood, Nucor-Yamato said.
Nucor also operates another steel mill near the Nucor-Yamato plant, producing hot-rolled steel.
And a third steel mill, being built by Big River Steel, is under construction near Osceola, also in Mississippi County. Big River Steel will manufacture flat-rolled steel to be used in automobile manufacturing and for electrical steel in transformers. Big River Steel also will take scrap metal and process it into steel.
Nucor-Yamato began in 1987 as a joint venture between Nucor Corp. and Japan-based Yamato Kogyo, with the goal of operating a steel mini-mill to manufacture wide-flange beams in Blytheville.
Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel products, with factories primarily in the U.S. and Canada.
Business on 09/26/2015