Nucor Corporation announced Thursday that it has applied for a permit to build a state-of-the-art iron-making facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana. The new company would be called "Nucor Steel Louisiana."
The company says that it is strongly considering the site, located on the Mississippi River, due to the transportation benefits and the competitiveness of the state's proposed incentive package. Nucor warns, however, that the project is not a certainty, and there is a chance that the plant could end up being built in a location outside of the US instead of the Louisiana site.
If the Louisiana site is ultimately selected for the proposed plant, it would be the first greenfield pig iron facility built in the US in over 30 years. The 3 million net ton-per-year facility would use the latest technology in emissions controls and energy efficiency including heat-recovery coke technology and slag granulation technology, among other state-of-the-art capabilities.
Nucor Chairman and CEO Daniel DiMicco told press that in addition to creating hundreds of new jobs for American workers and demonstrating the effectiveness of new technology to protect the environment, the project would also help the company achieve its long-term goal of increasing control over its raw materials supply.