Nucor Applies for Permit for $2 Billion Manufacturing Facility

Over the past two years, Nucor has evaluated multiple sites both in the U.S. and abroad. In its analysis, Nucor considered many factors, including the features of each site, transportation, permitting, the commitment of the State's leadership to the project and the proposed incentive packages. The competitiveness ofLouisiana's proposed incentive package, including significant infrastructure improvements, and the State's ability to move quickly were very important in the analysis. After taking into account all of these factors, the only U.S. site still under consideration is a large site on the Mississippi River inSt. James Parish, Louisiana. Sites outside of the U.S. are still under active consideration.

The project is not a certainty. Regardless of the ultimate site chosen for the project, permits have to be issued and Nucor's board must approve the selection of the site and the capital investment. If the project is ultimately built in the U.S., it would be the first greenfield pig iron facility built here in more than 30 years.

"Nucor would build one of the most modern iron making facilities in the world to produce 3,000,000 tons of pig iron, employing the latest technologies to reduce emissions. This facility would create hundreds of good jobs for American workers and demonstrate the effectiveness of new technology to protect the environment," said Nucor Chairman and CEO Daniel R. DiMicco. "At the same time, this project would help Nucor achieve our long-term goal of increasing control over our raw materials supply."

"We are proud that Nucor, a company with a great reputation for creating jobs in the U.S., is consideringLouisiana for this important project," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said. "This would provide a tremendous boost toLouisiana's economic development and further job creation. We will continue to work with local communities here to attract a facility that can become a national model for responsible manufacturing and economic growth."

Nucor has selected advanced heat-recovery coke technology to be used in this facility. Unlike conventional coke facilities, this coke plant would capture waste heat and use it to produce power, making our operation self-sufficient in power. The coke-making facility will meet and likely outperform current best-available control technology requirements.

Nucor's blast furnaces will have the latest designs for emissions controls and energy efficiency. This facility would capture waste energy from the blast furnaces to produce power over and above our own requirements. By the second phase of this project, the facility would be producing 500 MW of power, of which 250 MW would be supplied to the grid, completely offsetting the emissions that would have been released had a facility been constructed to generate this new source of power.

The facility will have slag granulation technology that produces a valuable by-product used by the cement industry, completely offsetting the emissions they would have created to manufacture the same product.

If the project is located inSt. James Parish, Nucor would build a new high-capacity port on the river capable of handling ocean vessels, as well as barges of coal and pig iron. This project would create a lot of jobs and stimulate the economy. The project's first phase would require a $2 billion investment and would directly create 2,000 jobs during peak construction. Five hundred permanent Nucor jobs would be created, earning an average annual salary of $75,000, plus benefits; roughly twice the area's median household income.

If the second phase is built, Nucor would invest an additional $1 billion for a second 3,000,000-ton blast furnace and increase permanent employment to 750.

There would be a huge economic impact generated by businesses and services that support this type of facility. Approximately 2,600 permanent jobs would be created by suppliers and businesses that either move into the area or expand in order to support the first phase of Nucor's operation. It's estimated thatSt. James Parish would earn an additional $3.3 million annually in sales tax receipts and new business sales in the Parish would rise by almost $1.2 billion annually from phase one alone.

Headquartered inCharlotte, N.C., Nucor makes more steel in America than any other company. Nucor and its affiliates manufacture steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. andCanada. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; light gauge steel framing; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap. Nucor isNorth America's largest recycler.

Nucor prides itself on its environmental reputation, workforce policies and commitment to its communities. According to the U.S. EPA, the domestic steel industry including Nucor produces more steel today than it did in 1990, but does so with about 40% less carbon dioxide emissions, far outpacing the Kyoto Protocol goals. No other industry can claim such results and Nucor is a big part of that accomplishment. The company is also a member of the U.S. Green Building Council and has participated in other elite environmental programs, such as the Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Performance Track program and the U.S. Government's voluntary Climate VISION program.

In addition to the community activities of each individual Nucor division, the Nucor Foundation has donated more than $43.5 million toward scholarships for our employees' children since 1974 -- $3.6 million in 2007 alone.

Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that might cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements are outlined in Nucor's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in Nucor's December 31, 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date, and Nucor does not assume any obligation to update them.

SOURCE Nucor Corporation

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Tags: Building and Construction, Environment, north carolina, south carolina, louisiana

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