Nucor Breaks Ground on Louisiana Project

The steel company Nucor Corp. has broken ground on its direct reduced iron facility in Louisiana.

The company notes that it received its air permit from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in January after meeting all of the standards ensuring the facility will comply with state and federal environmental controls. Issuance of the air permit allowed the company to begin the process of ordering equipment, and the company will now commence construction.

In a groundbreaking ceremony, Dan DiMicco, Nucor’s chairman and CEO, says, "We are very excited to be here in St. James Parish to break ground on our $750 million DRI (direct reduced iron) facility. This facility is an important investment for our company and the state of Louisiana.

"Our nation's economy has been long-suffering, and strong, solid manufacturing growth is the path back to solid economic growth. At a time when job creation is vital to our nation's economic success, we need more capital investments like this one that are the result of the public and private sectors working together. We would like to thank Governor Bobby Jindal, Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret, local officials and members of the St. James Parish community for their support of this project," DiMicco adds.

The company also named Lester Hart general manager of the new facility.

Initially, Nucor will build one DRI plant, but has been permitted for the construction and operation of two plants with a combined annual DRI production of 5.5 million tons.