Gerdau announced Monday plans to invest $50 million to replace the continuous caster as its St. Paul, Minnesota mill to increase special bar quality (SBQ) capacity by 100,000 net tons and expand the mill's total capacity to 550,000 net tons. In a press release, Andre Gerdau Johannpeter, CEO of Gerdau, said the investment is a direct result of the company's confidence in North American markets. In addition to improving quality levels, the new caster will add aluminum grain refined capabilities that are limited by the current casting equipment and practices.
Gerdau said it anticipates groundbreaking to take place in Q2 2012, with the project completed by early 2013. As part of this announcement, Gerdau and USW Local 7263 have agreed to extend the contract from July 31, 2013 to July 31, 2015. Furthermore, the company received strong support from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce throughout the valuation process, and was offered state and local incentives from the State of Minnesota, the City of Saint Paul and the St. Paul Port Authority.