Steel Market 01 / 2020

Worldwide
Industry & Technology
Nucor selects Danieli and SMS
group for greenfield plate mill
Kentucky: Nucor Corporation is investing in a new mill
Nucor Corporation is investing in a new greenfield USD 1.35 billion plate mill in Brandenburg,
Kentucky. The company says that the mill will have a capacity for 1.2 million short tons per year.
It is expected to come online in 2022.
This strategic investment will enable
us to build a clear market
leadership position in the US
plate market,« says Nucor CEO John
Ferriola. »Kentucky is an excellent
location for this mill, right in the centre
of America‘s largest plate-consuming
region. Our acquisition of the
Gallatin sheet mill in Ghent, Kentucky,
five years ago has been a tremendous
success, and we are pleased to add a
second mill in the state.« Nucor currently
operates plate mills in North
Carolina, Alabama and Texas.
Nucor estimates that the new mill
will give the company the ability to
satisfy 97% of the US’ plate requirements
by product »... including the
specialty higher-margin products.«
The mill’s capabilities will range from
60-160 inches in width, with thick-
nesses of 3/16-14 inches.
Casting of steel in special sizes
Danieli will supply the new electric arc
furnace (EAF) melt shop and plate-/
Steckel-mill, as well as an electrical
and automation package provided by
Danieli Automation. The value of
Danieli supply is approx. USD 330 million.
The EAF will be a full platform
design with an EBT tapping system,
equipped with all modern mechatronic
devices to improve the performance
and the safety of the EAF, such as
Q-Melt and Zero Man Turn Around.
Danieli will also supply secondary
metallurgy equipment, including a
twin station LMF and a twin station
From left: Keith Watson,
SMS group Inc. Vice President;
Burkhard Dahmen, SMS group GmbH
President & CEO; John Ferriola, Nucor
Chairman and CEO; Leon Topalian,
Nucor President & COO
VTD equipped with mechanical
pumps. Both units will be equipped
with the latest automation and process
models to ensure precise chemistry
and temperature control while
minimising transformation costs.
The plate-/Steckel-mill will be
equipped with two stands: a roughing
mill and a Steckel-mill, where the
roughing mill will also be designed
for the rolling of 36" ingots. The complete
design of the plate mill will be
optimised to produce thermo-mechanical
rolled plates, production of
API-grades, as well as high hardness,
wear-resistant plates up to a rolled
width of 160" and coils up to a rolled
width of 125". After the Plate-/
Steckel-Mill mill, the latest EVO 5 hot
leveller designed for two different
types of cassettes and a plate finishing
and shearing line for the handling
and cutting of 250 ft mother plates
will follow. The final product will be
plates and heavy plates in a thickness
From left: Giacomo Mareschi Danieli,
Danieli CEO; Gianpietro Benedetti,
Danieli Chairman; John Ferriola,
Nucor Chairman and CEO; Leon Topalian,
Nucor President and COO, Paolo
Losso, Danieli Corporation President
About
About Nucor Corporation
Nucor Corporation is America’s
largest steel and steel
products maker, with approximately
27,000 employees at
25 steel mills and more than
300 operating facilities throughout
North America.
Last year, Nucor produced
more than 24.7 million tonnes
of steel and more than USD
25 billion in revenue. Nucor is
also North America’s largest
recycler, using scrap steel as
the primary raw material in
producing its steel and steel
products. In 2018, the company
recycled approximately
22.2 million net tonnes of
scrap steel.
01 | 2020 27