Nucor to build merchant bar quality mill in Illinois

Nucor Corp., headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, has announced that it will build a full-range merchant bar quality (MBQ) mill at its existing bar steel mill in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

The MBQ mill will have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons and is expected to cost $180 million. The project will take approximately two years to complete, Nucor says. 

“This new MBQ mill is right in line with our long-term strategy for profitable growth,” says John Ferriola, chairman, CEO and president of Nucor. “It takes advantage of our position as a low-cost producer to displace tons currently being supplied by competitors outside the region. It also builds on our market leadership position by further enhancing our product offerings of merchant bar, light shapes and structural angle and channel in markets in the central U.S.”

Ferriola continues, “Combined with our other full-range bar mills, we are now strategically located to supply all markets with high-quality bar products and exceptional service.”

The Midwest region is one of the largest markets for MBQ products, and Nucor says it is situated to take advantage of existing operating and commercial capabilities to meet this regional demand. This project will allow Nucor to use the company’s existing bar mill, Nucor Steel Kankakee Inc., by improving its melt capacity and infrastructure that is already in place. It also will take advantage of an abundant scrap supply in the region, as well as the company’s commercial footprint in the central United States. Nucor Steel Kankakee will continue to be a supplier of quality reinforcing bar products.

“We are very excited to bring new investment and jobs to the Kankakee community and the state of Illinois,” says Johnny Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Kankakee. “We would like to thank Gov. Rauner, state and local officials, our teammates and the entire community for their support of this project. Nucor’s bar mills have been a cornerstone of our company and, as this project demonstrates, they are an important part of Nucor’s future.”

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products include: carbon and alloy steel—in bars, beams, sheet and plate; hollow structural section tubing; electrical conduit; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating; and wire and wire mesh.  Nucor, through Cincinnati-based The David J. Joseph Co., also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI (hot-briquetted iron/direct-reduced iron); supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.