Nucor today broke ground on its $1.7 billion steel plate manufacturing mill in Kentucky, a project expected to employ up to 1,500 contractors during construction and eventually 400 full-time employees.
Located in Brandenburg, Kentucky the 1.5 million-square-foot facility will have an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons for steel plate production, and the mill is expected to open in 2022.
The company said access to the Ohio River will allow the mill to receive feedstock such as direct-reduced iron and scrap steel by barge.
During a special meeting in March 2019, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved a 15-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based agreement can provide up to $30 million in tax incentives based on the company’s investment of $1.36 billion and annual targets of creating and maintaining of 400 Kentucky-resident, full-time jobs across 15 years, and paying an average hourly wage of $45 including benefits across those jobs.
Additionally, KEDFA approved Nucor for up to $10 million in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development, and electronic processing.