Carolina mills, ports shut ahead of Florence

Steel mills and ports in the Carolinas have halted operations as Hurricane Florence nears the US east coast.

US steelmaker Nucor today suspended operations at its 3.4mn st/yr Berkeley, South Carolina, sheet mill outside of Charleston and its 1mn st/yr Hertford, North Carolina, plate mill until the storm passes, though it does not anticipate any impact on customer orders.

UK-based Liberty Steel evacuated its Georgetown, South Carolina, wire rod mill this afternoon.

Commercial Metals (CMC) told Argus today it would proceed with normal operations as it monitors the track of the storm. The Dallas-based company operates rebar mills and scrap processing facilities in North and South Carolina.

Steel Dynamics had not yet made any announcements as of this afternoon. The Indiana-based company operates a bar mill in Virginia in addition to scrap processing facilities in Virginia and North Carolina through its Omnisource subsidiary.

Ports in North Carolina and Virginia have also closed or partially closed to vessel traffic and transfer operations as the storm approaches.

The port of Wilmington, North Carolina, entered condition Zulu (complete shutdown) this morning, said a shipping agency, in anticipation of gale force winds today. This means no ships may move within the port and no vessel operations are allowed.

As of this afternoon, ship movements at the port of Charleston, South Carolina, were limited to outbound voyages only.

Farther north along the Atlantic coast, the port of Hampton Roads in Virginia has been closed to inbound traffic since midnight last night because of expectations of strong winds today, said the US Coast Guard.

The port of Baltimore, Maryland, remains open, and oceangoing ships must report their intention to remain in port or depart.

The port of Savannah, Georgia, remains open, according to a shipping agency.

Florence potential path as of 2pm AST 12 Sep