Nucor to Boost Tennessee Presence

The steel company Nucor Corp., headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., has announced plans to significantly increase its Memphis, Tenn., steel operations. The company says that its Tennessee facility will be part of the company’s two-year, $290-million effort to expand its production of special bar quality steel and wire rod. The company hopes to complete the expansion by 2013.

To accomplish the expansion, the company’s Nucor Steel Memphis Inc. division has requested and was awarded a 15-year tax freeze from the Tennessee Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board.

The investment will allow the company to increase its manufacturing output by up to 25 percent, while bringing 27 new jobs to the mill. The company says that it will invest $113 million to produce high-quality carbon alloy steel.

As part of this project, Nucor proposes to acquire around 42 acres adjacent to the existing building from the Tennessee Port Commission to expand its rail infrastructure, allowing Nucor to have more rail cars on site.

The Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (ECD) has offered as much as $359,991 in Tennessee Fast Track Infrastructure funding for this project to assist with new rail infrastructure.

In addition, ECD has indicated that Nucor is also eligible for the Tennessee Jobs Tax Credit with a potential value of $121,500; an Industrial Machinery Credit with a potential value of $3,090,000, and a sale/use Tax Exemption with a potential value of $9,527,500.

“We are excited to be investing in our Memphis mill in order to serve a growing segment of our bar mill business,” says Mike Gurley, vice president and general manager, Nucor Steel Memphis. “We believe the engineered bar markets will continue to be strong into the future, driven by energy, automotive, heavy truck and heavy equipment manufacturers. This investment in our Memphis mill will position Nucor to meet the growing demands of our engineered bar customers.”

In a release, Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. says, “Like most cities, we love to be able to announce new companies coming to town. But when Nucor announced in 2006 that it would invest $225 million at Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park—at the time the home of the defunct Birmingham Steel plant—it was the beginning of a new era. Since then, we’ve considered them an important neighbor and asset to this community. To watch them continue to grow and succeed, right here in our own backyard, is beyond gratifying.”