Air Quality Permit Gives Nucor Go-Ahead in Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has issued an air quality permit to Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., paving the way for construction to begin on the steelmaker’s direct reduced iron facility in St. James Parish.

The permit allows for the construction and operation of two plants with a combined annual DRI production of 5.5 million tons. Initially, Nucor will build one DRI plant with plans to expand to a second facility.

"We are very excited that we will be able to begin moving forward with the construction of this facility. Our nation's economy needs capital investment projects like this that stimulate job growth and contribute to a sustainable economic recovery," says Nucor Chairman and CEO Daniel R. DiMicco. 

The DRI facility is the first phase of a multi-phase plan that may include a coke plant, blast furnace, pellet plant and steel mill. The project's first phase will create 150 permanent Nucor jobs. During peak construction, 500 jobs will be directly created.

If the additional phases of the project are constructed, over time Nucor could have a total investment of over $3 billion. To date the company has invested over $50 million to acquire nearly 4,000 acres of property on the Mississippi River for the facility.