Nucor Corporation announced Friday the successful start-up of production at its direct reduced iron (DRI) facility in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Production of DRI began on Tuesday, December 24, and has continued at planned ramp-up levels since that time. The quality of material being produced in terms of both metallization and carbon content has improved very quickly, and within the first 24 hours of operation, output quality began matching the levels achieved at the company’s DRI plant that has been operating in Trinidad since 2006.
In late September, the collapse of an iron ore pellet storage dome on the plant site delayed its start-up, which was originally planned sometime in October. The DRI plant is expected to produce 2.5 million tons of DRI per year.