CMC shuts California rebar melt shop, cites regulations

Texas-based steelmaker Commercial Metals (CMC) shut down its melt shop located at its steel rebar mill in Rancho Cucamonga, California, because of regulatory costs and lower rebar prices.

"The burdensome regulatory environment and cost of doing business in California has put the Rancho Cucamonga melt shop at a severe cost disadvantage in the highly competitive rebar market," CMC said.

CMC will continue to operate the Rancho Cucamonga rolling mill using billet produced at other CMC locations. CMC operates electric-arc furnace mills in Alabama, Florida, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

The mill has a maximum raw steel capacity of 830,000 st/yr and a rolling mill capacity of 469,000 st/yr, according to the Association for Iron and Steel Technology.

Despite CMC's challenges in California, the company nearly doubled profits in the latest quarter and saw rebar shipments rise by 82pc from the prior year.

CMC acquired the California steel mill from Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau in November 2018.