Nucor Plans To Expand

Nucor has optioned about 100 acres adjacent to its existing plant to facilitate the expansion.

Nucor Steel Decatur General Manager Rex Query said construction could begin early in 2006, depending on permitting and regulatory requirements, with a target startup date of September 2006.

He estimated the facility would require a capital investment of $150 million to $200 million and employ an additional 60 to 75 workers.

The expansion will give the Decatur plant the ability to supply galvanized steel to the construction, automotive and appliance industries, John Ferriola, executive vice president of the Charlotte, N.C.-based company, said.

Ferriola said the automotive presence was not significant to Nucor's decision to expand.

Nucor has three sheet mills, three cold mills and two galvanizing lines in the Southeast.

"Nucor has a large presence in the Southeast," Ferriola said. "... We're just rounding out the capabilities of the Decatur mill."

Nucor already has galvanizing facilities in Charleston, S.C., and Hickman, Ark. Its Decatur plant produces hot-rolled, pickled and cold-rolled sheet metal.

Query said the galvanizing line could support Nucor's recently acquired Nucon, a residential and commercial construction company in Texas specializing in steel-frame and steel-stud buildings.

While steel-frame construction has been widely accepted in the commercial sector for some time, the residential market is beginning to grow as well, Query said.

Nucor purchased the assets of bankrupt Trico Steel Co. in July 2002.

In May 2004, Nucor purchased a pickle line, four-stand tandem cold mill, temper mill, annealing furnaces and land from a Worthington Steel plant in Decatur for $82 million. The Decatur Daily