SDI melts first coil at Texas steel mill

Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Steel Dynamics (SDI) has melted its first coil at its delayed Texas flat-rolled steel mill.

SDI produced a 45 short ton (st) coil that was melted, cast, and rolled through their 84 inch wide mill, according to a LinkedIn post. The 3mn st/yr flat-rolled mill will be able to produce hot rolled coil (HRC), cold rolled coil (CRC), and hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) products.

With at least six on-site processors with 1.8mn st/yr of consumption capacity, the majority of the mill's production may never leave the campus.

When Sinton was chosen by SDI for the new mill in July 2019, the plant was expected to start up in mid-2021. The Covid-19 pandemic, which began in earnest in the US in March 2020, caused numerous delays from troubles finding labor to equipment. Weather also played a large role, with rain storms causing further delays in 2021.

Sinton is expected to produce 2mn st of steel in 2022, and reach its full 250,000 st/month production capacity by the fourth quarter.

By Rye Druzin