Nucor Corp. announced the successful start-up of production at its direct-reduced iron (DRI) facility in St. James Parish, La. Production of DRI began on Dec. 24 and has continued at planned ramp-up levels since then. The quality of material being produced, in terms of both metallization and carbon content, has improved very quickly. Within the first day of operation, output quality began matching the levels routinely achieved at Nucor’s DRI plant in Trinidad, which has been in operation since 2006.