A new $350 million Lexington Rebar Mill has been planned for development in North Carolina by Nucor Corp, a renowned steel manufacturing company. This new plant will be the company’s third rebar mill location in the U.S, in addition to the existing ones located in Missouri and Florida.
Located off U.S Highway 64 in Lexington, Davidson County, Nucor’s new Rebar Mill is intended to produce rebar; a reinforcement type of steel material, which is used mostly for the construction of buildings, bridges, roads, and other structures. The mill will have an annual capacity of 430,000 tons and produce new steel products, from recycling scrap metal.
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In addition to producing Rebar, the new 15 bar steel plant, will also manufacture a wide range of other steel products, which include hot-rolled bars, light shapes, rounds, structural angles, channels, special bar quality (SBQ) steel bars, highway products in carbon, wire rods and alloy steels.
According to the President & Chief Executive Officer of Nucor, Leon Topalian, the new Lexington Rebar Micro Mill would produce up to 97% recycled content, making Nucor one of the most sustainable steel producers in the world, as the infrastructure for this project will be built by using the most sustainable steel available anywhere in the world.
Funding for the new Lexington Rebar Mill
The Lexington Rebar Mill will be funded in part by a 12-year Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) from the state, which offers $3.3 million in financial incentives to the company, in exchange for investing at least $310 million in the plant and providing a minimum of 180 employment opportunities.
In addition, the project is also eligible for a state rural infrastructure grant of $370,600 and the North Carolina Economic Investment Committee has also approved a combined $19.3 million in state economic incentives to build this new rebar mill in Lexington.
The new Lexington Rebar Mill is expected to provide full-time jobs for about 200 workers when the plant commences full operations. During the construction phase, the plant will create up to 500 temporary jobs, and the construction is expected to take about two years, pending permit and regulatory approvals.
According to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office, the average annual wages for the jobs provided by the Nucor’s plant will be about $99,660, which is more than double the average wage in Davidson County at $45,117.
