Nucor 2015 Annual Report Download - page 13

STEEL MILLS SEGMENT
STEEL MILL FACILITIES AND A STRUCTURAL STEEL FOUNDATION
DISTRIBUTOR Nucor operates 24 scrap-based steel production mills and is
North America’s largest recycler.
BAR MILLS
Nucor has 13 bar mills strategically located across the United States that manufacture a broad range of steel products, including
concrete reinforcing bars, hot-rolled bars, rounds, light shapes, structural angles, channels, wire rod and highway products in
carbon and alloy steels. Four of the bar mills have a significant focus on manufacturing engineered special bar quality (SBQ) and
wire rod products. Steel produced by our bar mills has a wide usage serving primarily the agricultural, automotive, construction,
energy, furniture, machinery, metal building, railroad, recreational equipment, shipbuilding, heavy truck and trailer market
segments. The total capacity of the bar mills is approximately 9,110,000 tons per year.
Over the past several years, Nucor has executed on a $290 million strategic investment to expand our SBQ and wire rod production
volume and quality capabilities. The recently built wire rod mill located at our South Carolina facility continues to grow Nucor’s market
share in the wire rod market. The significant production and inspection equipment upgrades made at the Nebraska and Tennessee
bar mills are greatly expanding our SBQ product offerings into higher-value engineered steel applications that are less vulnerable to
import competition. Nucor is continuing to make incremental investments during 2016 to expand our overall SBQ product capabilities.
SHEET MILLS
With the October 2014 acquisition of Gallatin Steel, located in Ghent, Kentucky, Nucor now operates five strategically located sheet mills
that utilize thin slab casters to produce flat-rolled steel for automotive, appliance, construction, pipe and tube and many other industrial
and consumer applications. With an approximate annual capacity of 1,800,000 tons, Gallatin increased Nucor’s total flat-rolled annual
capacity to approximately 13,100,000 tons. The entire equity interest of Gallatin Steel was acquired for a cash purchase price of $779.1
million. Strategically positioned on the Ohio River, Gallatin expands Nucor’s footprint into the Midwest markets, the largest flat-rolled
consuming region in the United States, and it provides Nucor access to many key markets on the United States river system.
Four of our sheet mills are equipped with cold rolling mills and galvanizing lines for the further processing of hot-rolled sheet. Through
strategic investments and continuous process improvement efforts at our existing facilities, Nucor continues to greatly expand our
sheet product capabilities and offerings. Most recently, in December 2013, the Berkeley County, South Carolina, sheet mill successfully
installed caster and hot mill upgrades that provide the Berkeley mill with the capability to roll light gauge products with a finished width
of 74 inches. This project is providing Nucor the ability to gain new business in a wide range of end-use markets, including automotive,
metal buildings, rail cars, water heaters, heavy equipment, motor lamination, welding wire, racking, containers and water transmission
pipe. Of particular importance, these upgrades allow Nucor to produce thinner high-strength steel grades that we plan to use to further
develop lightweight automotive applications.
Nucor also operates Castrip® sheet production facilities in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and Blytheville, Arkansas. These facilities use the
breakthrough technology of strip casting, which involves the direct casting of molten steel into final shape and thickness without further
hot or cold rolling. Significant progress continues to be made in all aspects of this technology.
STRUCTURAL MILLS
Nucor operates two structural mills that produce wide-flange steel beams, pilings and heavy structural steel products for fabricators,
construction companies, manufacturers and steel service centers. Nucor owns a 51% interest in the Nucor-Yamato Steel Company
(Nucor-Yamato) located in Blytheville, Arkansas. Nucor also owns a steel beam mill in Berkeley County, South Carolina. The current
annual production capacity of our two structural steel mills is approximately 3,700,000 tons. Both mills use a special continuous
casting method that produces a beam blank closer in shape to that of the finished beam than traditional methods do.
Nucor also owns Skyline Steel, LLC (Skyline) and its subsidiaries, primarily a steel foundation distributor serving the North American
markets. Skyline distributes products to service marine construction, bridge and highway construction, heavy civil construction, storm
protection, underground commercial parking and environmental containment projects in the infrastructure and construction industries.
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OPERATIONS REVIEW
Images (clockwise from top left) Steel coils ready for shipment at Nucor Steel Decatur. Wide-flange steel beams being inspected by a teammate at Nucor-Yamato. Steel plates stacked at
Nucor Steel Hertford County. Nucor teammates get an up-close view as Skyline Steel coats the new wide sheet pile produced by Nucor-Yamato. Bundles of merchant bar stacked for delivery
at Nucor Steel Nebraska.