Lowndes Steel Plant to Expand

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) — Indiana-based Steel Dynamics, the nation’s fifth-largest steel producer, is expanding its Lowndes County operation.

The company bought Severstal last year to expand its product line into wide-rolled steel. The previous owners, Severstal, looked at adding a painting line but never did.

Steel Dynamics has decided it can be profitable and that it has customers who want to buy the product so they are investing more than $100 million — about 60 percent of that is equipment and 40 percent is building — in a painting facility on the north side of the company’s 1,400-acre campus.

The building will resemble a large rectangular airplane hangar that is about three times as long as it is wide.

Lowndes County supervisors this morning approved their share of the incentives and Gov. Phil Bryant is on hand for an announcement this morning.

A combination of local, state and federal funds are being provide to improve a road, add utilities and extend a rail spur a little less than a half mile to the property. Work should start in the next few weeks with production targeted for early 2017, according to the company.

“We are excited about this important strategic step toward further diversifying our high quality steel product offering at Columbus to include higher-margin steel products for our customers,” said Mark D. Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics, Inc. “The most significant portion of our expansion plans is the addition of a state-of-the-art continuous coil coating paint line, capable of producing 250,000 tons annually. We expect operations to begin early in 2017.

It will create about 40 jobs paying on average of $80,000 a year. The company already employs 620 people at the plant.

The county is spending $1 million on the rail spur, borrowing $1 million, at 1% interest, for 10 years from the state. Annual payments will be $106,000. But Golden Triangle Link CEO Joe Higgins told supervisors that once a fee-in-lieu agreement — a special tax deal for projects over $100 million — is finalized, the company will pay the county about $170,000 a year in fee-in-lieu taxes so the county will net about $65,000 a year.

Higgins said county schools will get another $225,000-$230,000 in tax payments.

The company looked at some of its other locations to do the expansion but decided on Lowndes County.

The other incentives are $1.95 million in an ACE (state/federal) grant for road improvements, $500,000 in DIP grant for sewer improvements, and $350,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

STATE/CORPORATE PRESS RELEASE

COLUMBUS, Miss.—Gov. Phil Bryant and officials from Steel Dynamics, Inc. announced today the company is expanding through the addition of painting and Galvalune® capabilities at its Columbus, Miss., steel mill. The project represents a corporate investment of approximately $100 million and will create 40 new, full-time jobs.

SDI’s Columbus location, the Flat Roll Group Columbus Division, was acquired from Severstal North America in 2014. The acquisition increased SDI’s steel operations shipping capacity to 11 million tons per year. The facility produces sheet steel products consisting of hot roll, cold roll, and coated steel products. The addition of a paint line and Galvalume® capability will allow SDI to produce additional value-added steel products at the Columbus location.

“The Steel Dynamics team could have selected one of its other U.S. locations as the site of its new paint facility, and the company’s decision to further invest in its Columbus operations and create new jobs for the area’s workforce speaks volumes about Mississippi’s supportive business climate,” Gov. Bryant said. “I thank SDI for its commitment to the Columbus community and the state of Mississippi, and I look forward to watching the company’s continued growth and success in Lowndes County.”

“We are excited about this important strategic step toward further diversifying our high quality steel product offering at Columbus to include higher-margin steel products for our customers,” said Mark D. Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics, Inc. “The most significant portion of our expansion plans is the addition of a state-of-the-art continuous coil coating paint line, capable of producing 250,000 tons annually. We expect operations to begin early in 2017.

“We are grateful to Governor Bryant and his staff, and the numerous Mississippi state agencies for their support of Steel Dynamics. We are excited about this opportunity to expand our capabilities by making this investment in our Columbus operation and creating new jobs for the area’s workforce.”

The Mississippi Development Authority provided assistance in support of the project for infrastructure improvements, rail construction and workforce training. Tennessee Valley Authority, Appalachian Regional Commission and the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors assisted with the project, as well.

“While Steel Dynamics is one of the newer members of Mississippi’s business community, the company’s Columbus facility has been a cornerstone of the Golden Triangle region’s industrial landscape for years,” said MDA Interim Executive Director Manning McPhillips. “Economic development requires the collaboration of leaders at the regional, local and state levels, and this expansion is a testament to that. This project would not have happened without the Golden Triangle Development LINK, Lowndes County, TVA, and the Lowndes County Industrial Development Authority.  The team was quick to meet Steel Dynamics’ needs and timeline to ensure this project was a success.”

Situated on a 1,400-acre site, SDI’s Columbus facility is a groundbreaking, high-tech electric arc furnace mini-mill capable of producing 3.4 million tons of steel annually. The plant covers more than two million square feet and features state-of-the-art steel manufacturing capabilities, including two electric arc furnaces, two ladle metallurgy furnaces, two vacuum degassers, two thin slab casters, a hot strip mill, pickle lines, an annealing line, a temper mill, two hot-dipped galvanizing lines, and a rewind/inspection line. The Columbus Division is currently the most technologically advanced EAF facility in North America.

For more information, visit www.steeldynamics.com.