US steel producer Nucor Corp. has finalized the purchase of the majority of the land in Louisiana on which the firm may build a state-of-the-art pig iron mill, the first of its kind in the United States.
Nucor has not officially announced that it has chosen the St. James Parish land as the site of the proposed $2 billion pig iron plant (the company had also been considering a location in Brazil), but according to the administration of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, the company has now purchased an estimated 90 percent of the land, approximately 3,800 acres, required to build the plant and has also secured the majority of the financing necessary to build the plant.
These actions led state economic development Secretary Stephen Moret to remark this week that the state is “cautiously optimistic” that Nucor will build the plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
Upon completion, the plant would initially supply pig iron to Nucor's US flat rolled mills, though it would also have the capacity for an additional $2.5 billion expansion which would include an on-site steelworks.
The next hurdle for the project is environmental – Nucor will need to be granted an air quality permit by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before construction can begin. Secretary Moret stated that Nucor will make its official announcement about its plans for the plant once the necessary permits are granted by the EPA.