WV advances incentives for new steel mill

West Virginia is moving quickly to create incentives to lure electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor's new $2.7bn flat-rolled steel mill to the state.

The state senate passed Senate Bill 1001, or the West Virginia Industrial Advancement Act, in a special legislative session called by governor Jim Justice that started yesterday. The House passed its version today.

Justice called the session to get the incentives passed before his state of the state address tomorrow.

The bill allows for tax incentives for qualified labor-intensive heavy industrial manufacturing projects that invest more than $2bn and hire at least 500 full-time employees within three years of the facility being placed in service.

Nucor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

While no one has named Nucor as the potential recipient of the tax incentives, [the steelmaker listed West Virginia] (https://metals.argusmedia.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/2255671) as a potential location for its new 3mn short ton/yr flat-rolled sheet mill, along with Ohio and Pennsylvania.

A West Virginia location would make logistical sense for Nucor, particularly one with access to the Ohio river and nearby consuming markets.
Production was originally expected to begin in 2024, but Nucor has since revised it to 2025, according to an investor presentation.

The mill will have 84-inch-wide capabilities with a 76-inch tandem cold mill and two galvanizing lines. The sheet mill will be Nucor's sixth, adding to its existing mills in South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Indiana.

The mill's product mix is expected to by 1.1mn st/yr of hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil, 800,000 st/yr of cold-rolled coil (CRC), 750,000 st/yr of hot-rolled coil (HRC), and 350,000 st/yr of pickled and oiled HRC.

Arkansas passed similar incentive legislation in late 2021 aimed at securing US Steel's new sheet mill.

By Rye Druzin