Nucor to invest in South Carolina mill

Nucor Corp., based in Charlotte, North Carolina, says it will invest $200 million over the next five years in what it calls mill modernization projects at its scrap-fed electric arc furnace Nucor Steel Berkeley (EAF) steel mill in Huger, South Carolina.

A portion of the capital investment will include the construction of a new air separation unit (ASU) to supply industrial gases for the mill's steelmaking operations, Nucor says.

When complete, the ASU will be operated by UIG LLC, a Nucor subsidiary that focuses on industrial gas supply. Nucor Steel Berkeley currently is supplied with industrial gases under a long-term supply agreement. The anticipated project will allow Nucor, through UIG, to produce and supply all the gases needed for the mill from the new Nucor-owned facility “now and into the future,” the steel producer says.

"Nucor acquired UIG in 2019 so that we would have the capability to build and operate our own air separation units, giving us an alternative to long-term service contracts with outside providers,” says Mike Lee, vice president at Nucor Steel Berkeley. “We are proud of our company’s long-time partnership with the State of South Carolina, and we are excited to continue to invest in the state where Nucor first began operating nearly 60 years ago.”

The State of South Carolina provided the ASU project with a grant issued by its Department of Commerce Coordinating Council for Economic Development, as well as a grant from the state’s utility provider, Santee Cooper. Nucor and Berkeley County, South Carolina, also entered into a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement.

Nucor Steel Berkeley, which has about 1,000 employees, produces up to 3.5 million tons of flat-rolled sheet and structural steel per year used by companies in the agriculture, automotive and appliance, construction, energy, oil and gas, heavy equipment, infrastructure and transportation sectors.