Big River Steel to complete expansion in late 2020

Big River Steel expects to complete a expansion to double flat-rolled production in the next 18 months.

The Osceola, Arkansas, electric arc furnace-based sheet mill is doubling its production to 3.3mn st/yr. Construction began in 2018.

The company recently raised $777mn in debt and equity financing to pay for the expansion.Big River said the expansion will allow it to produce higher grades of electrical steels for the auto industry as it pushes to improve vehicle efficiency and increases hybrid and electric vehicle production.

Big River also has an option on 800 acres of land near Brownsville, Texas, near the Mexico border, which the company could use for a new mill. US steelmaker Steel Dynamics (SDI) is considering a site outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, among potential locations for its new $1.8bn investment.