Zinc Resources LLC, a processor of electric-arc furnace (EAF) dust, started operations at its new facility in Victoria, Texas. According to the company, it is the first EAF recycling plant to come online in the southern part of the United States in over 15 years and is also the first to receive approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for recycling EAF dust in the state. Zinc Resources reduces the environmental impact of steel production by converting steel recycling waste into usable zinc and iron products. The location of the over $100 million facility, which is capable of processing 120,000 metric tons of EAF dust annually, provides logistical benefits to steel mills in the southwest. The company intends to employ a staff of roughly 50 full-time workers.

Commercial Metals Company (CMC) acquired Advanced Steel Recovery (ASR), a supplier of recycled ferrous metals based in Southern California, as part of its strategic expansion in the western United States. ASR’s primary operations include processing and brokering capabilities that efficiently source material for sale into both the domestic and export markets. ASR handles approximately 300,000 tons of scrap annually across its processing, industrial collection and brokerage platforms.

BlueScope entered into a binding agreement to buy the ferrous scrap-steel recycling business of MetalX LLC, the leading supplier of scrap feed to BlueScope’s Ohio-based mini-mill business, North Star BlueScope Steel. BlueScope will pay $240 million to acquire two of MetalX’s operating sites in Indiana and in Ohio. The Ohio facility is immediately adjacent to the North Star facility in Delta. According to BlueScope, North Star will soon move from a capacity of 2 million metric tons per year to almost 3 million metric tons per year. The acquisition is expected to complete by the end of the year.

Harsco Corp. announced that its Harsco Environmental division entered into an exclusive strategic relationship with Magsort Ltd. to bring metal recovery technology to the steel industry. Helsinki, Finland-based Magsort developed an ultrahigh-energy crusher for the processing of steelmaking slags, enabling the recovery of higher-value metallics. This solution can salvage larger volumes of metal from slag at a higher quality level than traditional solutions. The program will initially focus on bringing the technology to carbon-steel producers. A second phase will focus on developing the solution for stainless steel producers.

Nucor Corp. launched Econiq, a line of net-zero carbon-steel products. Building the green economy and the necessary infrastructure requires clean, advanced steel products. According to Nucor, Econiq is a first of its kind at scale for the U.S. steel industry. General Motors will receive the Econiq net-zero steel beginning in the first quarter of 2022, and it is projected that all steel purchased by GM from Nucor will be net carbon neutral by the end of 2022. The Econiq brand will be available across the complete line of Nucor steelmaking products, and initial quantities will be limited.

American Zinc Recycling LLC (AZR), a provider of environmental services to the U.S. steel industry, announced that Luxembourg-based Befesa S.A. will acquire 100% of its recycling assets for $450 million. In addition, Befesa will invest $10 million for a minority stake in AZR’s downstream refining operation, American Zinc Products (AZP), forming a joint venture with the current ownership. The transaction will create a global leader in recycling electric-arc furnace (EAF) dust. The combined company will include all employees in AZR’s recycling business and will operate under the Befesa name.  

TMS International, a provider of outsourced industrial services to steel mills, acquired the business and assets of Stein LLC and Stein Steel Mill Services of Cleveland, Ohio. Stein provides services to steel producers throughout the U.S. Its full-service operations provide metal producers with the flexibility and resources to handle a wide range of steel-mill processing services, such as slag removal and metallics reclamation, scrap handling, scrap management, recycling, raw-material screening, material handling, and maintenance and repair services.

Liberty Steel Group (LSG), part of GFG Alliance, acquired the strategic French steel assets of France Rail Industry business (Hayange) and the Ascoval steelworks. Hayange, located in Moselle, manufactures a range of steel rails for nationally significant infrastructure clients, including France’s national rail operator and the operator of Paris’ metro system. The site, which employs around 430 people, produces over 300,000 metric tons of rail per year. Ascoval, based in Saint-Saulve in northern France, has approximately 270 employees. The plant uses electric-arc furnace (EAF) technology and has the capability to produce 600,000 metric tons of steel blooms, billets and other forged products annually from recycled scrap metal. Ascoval will use recycled steel to supply Hayange, creating an integrated French GREENSTEEL rail business.

American Zinc Recycling (AZR), a provider of environmental services to the U.S. steel industry, announced the restart of production at its updated facility in Rutherford County, N.C. The facility is designed to produce special-high-grade (SHG) zinc using recycled steel-mill dust. It is expected to produce 155,000 tons of SHG zinc annually.

Steel Dynamics Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zimmer, S.A. de C.V. as part of its raw-material procurement strategy to support its new Texas flat-roll steel mill, which is currently under construction and expected to begin operations in 2021. Zimmer is headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, and operates a ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals recycling business. The company's primary operations are comprised of six scrap-processing facilities that currently ship approximately 500,000 gross tons of scrap annually and have an estimated annual processing capability of approximately 2 million gross tons. Zimmer also operates several third-party scrap-processing locations.