Nucor to restart Arizona rebar mill
By Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 10/16/2008 2:00:00 AM
Nucor will spend necessary capital improvements of $30 million and then restart steel rebar production at an idled rolling mill in Kingman, Ariz. With Kingman's rolling operations expected to begin by the second quarter of 2009, Nucor is projecting initial annual output of straight-length rebar, coiled rebar and wire rod to be about 250,000 tons.
The Kingman mill is designed with the capability to boost annual production to some 500,000 tons/year. It was built initially by North Star Steel but was idled because of regional energy costs that made the scrap-fed meltshop uneconomical. Nucor bought Kingman steel mill in 2003 for $35 million, but decided in 2004 that the facility's meltshop could not be restarted.
Nucor CEO Dan DiMicco says the decision to start rolling rebar and wire rod products was driven by growing demand in the southwestern U.S. market—both from its outside customers and its expanding downstream rebar fabrication business. Nucor Steel Kingman's rolling mill will be fed by excess low-cost melting capacity at the company's other existing bar mills.
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