Nucor Corp. will add a new melt shop at its bar mill in Kingman, Ariz. The $100 million facility will have the capacity to produce 600,000 tons annually and create approximately 140 new full-time jobs. Construction is expected to take two years pending permit and regulatory approvals. Nucor announced its intention to build a new melt shop at one of its existing bar mills in the western United States in September 2021. Nucor Steel Kingman is the ideal location for this project because it is a rolling mill that converts steel billets into coiled wire rod and rebar but lacks a melt shop.

Tenova and SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. signed a deal for the delivery of Consteel Evolution, Tenova’s low-impact technology for steel manufacturing. It will be the first of its kind in the Philippines and will be installed in SteelAsia’s new melt shop in Lemery, Batangas, in 2024. Tenova’s scope of supply includes an electric-arc furnace (EAF), secondary metallurgy station, billet caster, fume treatment plant (FTP), material-handling systems and all engineering services. The new Consteel Evolution melt shop will recycle local scrap metal to produce high-grade billets for steel sections.

Nucor awarded Germany’s SMS group a contract for a complete melt shop for its facility to be built in Mason County, W.V. SMS will supply two 190-metric-ton direct-current electric-arc furnaces (DC EAF), two twin-ladle furnaces and two vacuum degassers. The mechanical supply includes several safety-related auxiliaries, the proprietary SMS bottom anode system, two vacuum pumping systems and an equipment layout designed to minimize crane movements. All equipment will be supplied “digital-ready” for incorporation into a data-driven system. The facility will enable Nucor to expand its portfolio in the automotive market. Project completion is scheduled for 2024, with hot commissioning beginning in the second half of 2024.

Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. successfully restarted production at its Cascade Steel Rolling Mills in McMinnville, Ore. The company also entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of Columbus Recycling in the southeast region of the United States. Cascade restarted production following the completion of replacement and repairs of property and equipment at the mill’s melt shop, which had been lost or damaged by a fire on May 22, 2021. Cascade has resumed operations with a full workforce and is accepting orders for its full range of finished steel products based on the rolling schedule.

Steel production started up at Tenaris’ first U.S. melt shop in Koppel, Pa. The facility, part of the company’s strategic acquisition of IPSCO in 2020, began producing steel bars following a year-long investment of more than $15 million in upgrades. It will soon supply steel bars for Tenaris’ seamless pipe mills in the U.S. and Canada. The investments included expansion of the mill’s capabilities to produce a wider range of steel bars. This work entailed new design and install of molds for the caster, where the liquid steel is solidified, and other structural reinforcements. The Koppel facility is expected to be fully commissioned by end of summer.

Tenaris plans to restart activity at its two plants in Pennsylvania: the Koppel melt shop and Ambridge seamless pipe mill. The plant in Koppel – the company’s first domestic steel shop – is finalizing an investment announced in 2020 to upgrade its steel bar size capabilities while also incorporating additional improvements in safety and automation. Tenaris has since increased its investment to include the revamping of existing cranes used to feed the furnace with scrap metal and a new production management system to improve process control at the steel shop. The more than $15 million investment is projected to be completed in May with production to start up in June. 

Tenaris will invest $11 million at its melt shop in Koppel, Pa., to expand the plant’s size range capabilities. The facility’s caster line will undergo upgrades to increase its steel bar size capabilities and improve safety, IT and automation systems at the mill. The expansion will allow the melt shop to produce bars in a wider range of sizes while securing a reliable source of billets for Tenaris’ seamless mills in Bay City, Texas; Ambridge, Pa.; and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. The project is expected to last 14 months, and it is scheduled for completion by the end of the second quarter of 2021.