Bayou Steel post-Katrina update

Bayou Steel post-Katrina update

Bayou Steel Corp. minimill operation is up and running, despite its proximity to Hurricane Katrina’s path. Immediately following Katrina, initial fears were that the company might have sustained flooding due to its proximity to the Mississippi River. There was, however, no flood damage and it did not lose electric service. Bayou Steel’s Al Pulliam told SteelOrbis that both its LaPlace, Louisiana and Harriman, Tennessee mills are now fully operational. “We started up our rolling mill operations the Saturday after the storm and our melt shop operations Monday, Labor Day." Mr. Pulliam informed us that the plants had only sustained minimal damage, including some sheeting damage. When asked if Bayou was making any special preparations for Hurricane Rita, he replied, “No special preparations other than watching the storm. We also have well-established hurricane procedures already in place.” Bayou Steel Corporation owns and operates a steel minimill located on the Mississippi River in LaPlace, Louisiana, 35 miles northwest of New Orleans, Louisiana and a rolling mill in Harriman, Tennessee, 37 miles west of Knoxville. Its principal raw material, scrap steel, is melted in electric arc furnaces and continuously cast into billets, then rolled on its two rolling mills into a variety of bars and structural steel shapes.