Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..
Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low around 75F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Nucor Corp. said it will spend $200 million to expand its Berkeley County steel plant with an air separation unit that will let the facility produce its own industrial gases for the manufacturing process. Nucor Corp./Provided
Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.
Nucor Corp. said it will spend $200 million to expand its Berkeley County steel plant with an air separation unit that will let the facility produce its own industrial gases for the manufacturing process. Nucor Corp./Provided
Nucor Corp. said Aug. 30 it will spend $200 million on an expansion of its Huger steel mill that will help shield the manufacturer from fluctuations in the price of industrial gases needed for its operations.
The expansion, to be completed by the end of 2024, includes construction of an air separation unit that will produce and supply all of the gases — such as oxygen, argon and nitrogen — needed for the mill, which produces up to 3.5 million tons of flat-rolled sheet and structural steel annually.
The separator will be operated by Nucor subsidiary Universal Industrial Gases LLC, which the Charlotte-based steelmaker acquired in 2019.
The expansion will give the company "an alternative to long-term service contracts with outside providers," Mike Lee, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Berkeley, said in a written statement.
Tight supplies, supplier consolidations and, most recently, the war in Ukraine have led to increasing prices for industrial gases, with nitrogen hitting record highs this summer and argon costs more than doubling in the five-year period from 2016-21.
Bringing production in-house has been a long-term goal for Nucor. Leon Topalian, the steelmaker's president and CEO, told investors during a 2020 conference call that the UIG acquisition "will lower our steelmaking costs, develop commercial sales opportunities for liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon, and over time, have the ability to offer design-build operations for third-party sales."
The S.C. Coordinating Council for Economic Development, which is part of the Commerce Department, has approved a $100,000 grant to help pay for the project's costs, and Berkeley County Council has approved tax breaks for Nucor, which has invested $1.3 billion in its plant along the Cooper River since its opening in 1996.
Santee Cooper, which provides power to the plant, also will provide $100,000 to the county to help offset the expansion costs. The grant is part of a fund the Moncks Corner-based utility has set up to help local governments and nonprofits with industry recruitment and retention.
The Huger plant has seen several upgrades since opening, including a $135 million expansion in 2013 that allowed it to churn out thinner, wider and higher-grade varieties of steel.
The mill, which employs about 1,000 workers, has a no-layoff policy and provides jobs that pay roughly $100,000 a year. It makes steel for numerous industries, including agriculture, automotive, construction, energy generation and transmission, heavy equipment and transportation.
Reach David Wren at 843-937-5550 or on Twitter at @David_Wren_
The Post and Courier 148 Williman Street Charleston, SC 29403
News tips/online questions: newstips@postandcourier.com
Delivery/subscription questions: subserve@postandcourier.com
, Post and Courier, an Evening Post Publishing Newspaper Group. All rights reserved.