Charlotte, North
Carolina-based Nucor Corp. has announced that its board of directors has
approved a $280 million investment to install a new “mill stand” at its steel
plate mill in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The Alabama mill has the
melt shop capacity to produce 1.2 million tons annually of recycled-content
steel and, after the investment, will have the downstream capacity to make
“approximately 3 million tons of cut-to-length and discrete plate,” says the
company.
Nucor says the investment
will enable Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa to “strengthen its ability to serve key
market segments that are part of the overall Plate Mill Group strategy.”
United Kingdom-based API
Engineering, a provider of steel mill equipment, says rolling mill stands “are
used to control the outer diameter of the product during the elongation and
diameter finishing processes.”
After the new mill stand
is installed, semi-finished steel from three Nucor potentially could be handled
in Tuscaloosa. The Nucor Plate Mill Group consists of three production
facilities, located in Hertford County, North Carolina; Brandenburg,
Kentucky; and in Tuscaloosa, according to Nucor.
“Nucor produces plate for
military applications and for manufacturers of barges, bridges, heavy
equipment, rail cars, refinery tanks, ships, wind towers and other items that are
primarily used in the pipe and tube, pressure vessel, transportation and
construction industries,” states the company.
“We continuously invest
in our teammates and facilities where we see opportunities to create value for
our customers,” says Al Behr, an executive vice president with Nucor. “This
modernization project will bolster the plate group’s position as [having] the
most diverse and comprehensive product mix in the industry.”
NRT has announced the new SpydIR®-HS optical
sorter, a near-infrared (NIR) platform with multiple technological
advancements, including nearly 10x the detection resolution with the addition
of a Hyper Spectral Imaging (HSI) camera, double the air ejection precision,
integration with Max-AI® VIS (Visual Identification System) and lifetime
calibration. The optical unit also features a new easy-access design for
improved maintenance and safety, a design now available on all NRT optical
sorters.
Remarks Brian Phillippi,
vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa, “The
modernization and upgrade of the rolling mill at Tuscaloosa is an important
investment that will keep our mill competitive in the global steel industry and
open up new market opportunities for our team. We appreciate the support we
have received from the Tuscaloosa County [Alabama] Economic Development
Authority for this project.”