Expanded Nucor Gallatin targets full run rates in 4Q

Electric arc furnace steelmaker Nucor has completed expansion work at its Gallatin steel mill in Ghent, Kentucky.

The mill is expected to produce several hundred thousand short tons of steel from the 1.4mn st/yr expansion through the end of the year, chief executive Leon Topalian said on the company's second quarter earnings call today.

The mill is expected to hit its total combined run rate of 3mn st/yr in the fourth quarter.

"Our ramp up ... will be determined also by what's going on in the marketplace, I do want to state that, we'll gauge that by the demand in the marketplace," said executive vice president Rex Query.

The Gallatin flat-rolled mill now has a total production capacity of 8,200st/day, up by 3,840st/day over the previous production rate.

The mill came out of its last integration outage in early June.

Nucor's new 1mn st/yr plate mill in Brandenburg, Kentucky is on schedule for a late-2022 start-up.

Groundbreaking for the company's new 3mn st/yr flat-rolled mill in West Virginia is expected by the end of the year.

By Rye Druzin