The Nucor “micro mill” will make steel rebar from scrap metal, according to the company, which expects construction to take two years after obtaining required regulatory approvals.Making rebar from scrap metal is going to require melting the stock and turning it into new bar, which is going to need lots of power, which says a reliable link to a nearby electric plant.
Nucor officials were looking for a site of more than 300 acres with railroad access near a major electricity substation that could provide enough power to operate the facility, Malott said. The Frostproof site fit the bill.This is not due to Trump's tariffs, as the county (Polk County) has been trying to lure Nucor to build in their city since last summer.
[Sean Malott, executive director of the Central Florida Development Council, which helped recruit the company] said he had worked to recruit Nucor since June but the breakthrough didn’t happen until last month, when the Polk County Commission approved property-tax and impact-fee breaks worth about $1.5 million.
The 25 percent tariff on imported steel announced last week by President Donald Trump might have helped seal the deal on the Frostproof plant, Malott said. Although he couldn’t say how much of a factor it played in Nucor’s decision, “I think it helped, and it’s one of the reasons the company is looking at expansion opportunities,” he said. “This would be a good thing for U.S. steel.”
Florida isn't known for much in the way of industry, except for the tourist industry and theme parks. In reality, we have quite a bit; I've worked in the electronics industry here in central Florida and in south Florida, and I know of electronics manufacturers scattered in other parts of the state, too. Major defense contractors are spread around the state. There's mining primarily for phosphate used in fertilizers, but also other minerals. I don't know of another steel manufacturing or recycling plant, though. There are steel fabrication companies but I don't see another doing this sort of work.
I work as a contractor at a steel recycling facility. The power requirements are huge--they have their own electrical substation. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.
ReplyDeleteThere's an opportunity for a new tourist attraction:
ReplyDeleteGet an electric chair and route Deep State personnel through it in between batches of steel. That way the electric grid is not hit quite so hard with the start up/shut down for each load of steel. I bet it would put Disney World to shame! Especially if, for an extra fee, one could throw the switch...
I was working part time as a firefighter in the 90s, and full time as the maintenance supervisor of 2 stainless steel pipe and tube manufacturing plants in Lakeland and Auburndale. Our tube plant made stainless steel tubing for Harley Davidson. Our pipe plant made piping for orange juice plants and for the space center.
ReplyDeleteClinton signed the deals with China that allowed my company to import Chinese finished product for less than we could even buy the raw materials. Within a year, the company went from being a manufacturer of American made pipe and tube to being a distributor of Chinese products. Over 300 people lost their jobs. I was luckier than most, I took the firefighting gig from part time to full time.
One of the stories I heard about that time (Clinton years) was that we sold timber - essentially full-sized northwestern US pine trees - to China; they'd transport the trees by ship to China, make it into plywood, transport the plywood back to us via ship and it would still be cheaper than we could make plywood in the states for.
DeleteI'm all for free and fair trade, but it isn't free and fair now. All the talk about "starting a trade war" belies the fact that we're in one now and have been in one for a long time.
It is only a "trade war" if both countries are actually FIGHTING. The US has instead bowed and scraped for almost 30 years. "Thank you, sir! May I please have another?"
DeleteNucor is known for its mini-mills and is one of the few survivors in the U.S. steel industry. As for recycling rebar, I wonder if the process is more or less energy-intensive than making brand-new rebar from iron ore.
ReplyDeleteRe-starting some U.S. steel mills is also good news for miners of coking coal.
Nucor specializes in using scrap, especially old cars to make steel. They go where the scrap is.
ReplyDeleteNot only that, there's a lot of growth (= construction) in Florida, so a ready market for rebar. The combination of lots of raw material and low shipping costs to get the rebar where it's needed is good for them.
DeleteMy understanding is that the tariffs target specialty steel, not rebar. In other words, automotive steel. There's been talk for 20 years about Nucor moving into this segment, but it doesn't look like they're really doing it. Maybe that's because German/Swedish steel is so dominant in that sector.
ReplyDeleteBut the tariffs aren't about rebar.
Two words: Anthony Texas. Border Steel (company). Very big, very nasty (uses 'recycled' steel products) and very, very power intensive. They generate a great amount of re-bar from recycled material (price per ton varies depending on market prices). Just saying ......
ReplyDeleteWorker