History of the Nucor Corporation.
History of Nucor 
Nucor was formed from the struggling business of the Nuclear Corporation of America, a conglomerate that appointed Ken Iverson in 1965 to bring about corporate recovery.
The company produced over 20 million tonnes of crude steel in 2022, making it the 16th largest steelmaker in the world.
The timeline below covers the history of the firm.
- 1965: Ken Iverson takes over after company files for bankruptcy.
- 1969: Nuclear Corporation opens 1st mini-mill in South Carolina.
- 1972: Change of company name to Nucor Corporation.
- 1986: Entry into fasteners - new plant at St Joe, Indiana.
- 1987: Construction of first flat product mini-mill in Crawfordsville.
- 1988: JV with Yamato Kogyo in wide flange beams, Blytheville.
- 1996: Iverson steps down as CEO; succeeded by John Correnti.
- 2001: Acquisition of ITEC Steel (light-gauge steel framing systems).
- 2002: Purchase of assets of the Birmingham Steel Corporation.
- 2002: First 'micro-mill' comes on-stream in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
- 2003: Acquisition of Kingman, Arizona steel facility of North Star.
- 2003: JV agreed with CVRD (now Vale) - pig iron production in Brazil.
- 2004: Purchase of Decatur Alabama steel-processing facility.
- 2006: Acquisition of Harris Steel Group [rebar, wire, wire mesh].
- 2007: $1.44 billion purchase of David J Joseph [scrap collection].
- 2011: Investment in 3m ton iron-making facility in Louisiana.
- 2012: Plan announced for closure of Nuconsteel.
- 2012: Acquisition of Skyline Steel LLC.
- 2012: Acquisition of Sparrows Point cold rolling mill plant.
- 2013: John J. Ferriola appointed as CEO, DiMicco becomes Chairman.
- 2014: Discussions about construction of 2nd DRI unit in Louisiana.
- 2014: Completes acquisition Of Gallatin Steel Company.
- 2015: Invests $75m in QST Process at Nucor-Yamato Steel.
- 2015: Acquisition of Gerdau's bright bar plant in Orrville, OH.
- 2015: Announces temporary closure of St James Parish DRI plant.
- 2016: Writes off $84m investment for proposed BF at St James.
- 2016: Completes $435m acquisition of Independence Tube Corp.
- 2016: Announces $135m acquisition of Southland Tube.
- 2016: Acquires Republic Conduit from Tenaris for ~$335m.
- 2017: Nucor acquires assets of Omega Joist.
- 2018: Announces construction of rebar micro mill in Florida.
- 2019: Announces investment in new plate mill in Kentucky.
- 2019: Acquires TrueCore LLC in Laurens County, South Carolina.
- 2020: Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico sheet steel plant starts production.
- 2020: Buys Precoat Metals Corp's paint line facility in Armorel, Arkansas.
- 2021: Signs second power purchase agreement for renewable energy in Texas.
- 2021: Signs purchase agreement to buy Cornerstone Building Brands' IMP business.
- 2021: Acquires majority ownership of California Steel Industries.
- 2022: Acquires US-based Elite Storage Solutions, a steel racking manufacturer.
- 2022: Agrees purchases of Summit Utility Structures and Sovereign Steel Manufacturing.
- 2023: Announces plan for new utility structures m/f facility in Crawfordsville.
- 2023: Enters into carbon capture & storage (CCS) agreement with ExxonMobil.
- 2023: River Metals Recycling subsidiary (RMR) acquires Garden Street Iron & Metal.
- 2024: Announces acquisition of door manufacturer Rytec for $565 million.
Notes
- From its outset, none of Nucor's plants has been unionized. The Nucor culture is very much opposed to trade unions.
- A further Nucor policy is to locate all manufacturing plant in non-urban locations - in order to develop close relations with local communities.
- Nucor Steel is also well-known in the industry for its very lean and flat management structure, which comprises only four levels from CEO to shop floor operator.
- 2002: Micro mill is another world first - with Castrip® producing sheet steel from liquid steel in just a single step.
- Harris Steel Group comprised several business units: Harris Rebar, involved in the fabrication and placing of concrete reinforcing steel and the design and installation of concrete post-tensioning systems; Laurel Steel, a manufacturer and distributor of wire and wire products including welded wire mesh and cold finished bar; and Fisher & Ludlow, a manufacturer and distributor of industrial steel grating.
- 2011 investment in Louisiana iron-making has long-term goal of increasing Nucor's control over its raw materials supply. Construction program includes a new high-capacity river port capable of handling ocean vessels as well as barges of pig iron and coal.
- 2012: Nuconsteel was a fabricator of light gauge steel framing with operations in Denton, Texas and Dallas, Georgia.
- 2012: Skyline Steel LLC is one of the leading piling distribution and production companies in North America.
- 2012: RG Steel - one of the biggest U.S. producers of flat-rolled steel - went into Chapter 11 proceedings in 2011 because of mounting debts. In 2012, many of its assets were sold on to other steelmakers. These assets sales included the transfer of ownership of the Sparrows Point, Maryland cold rolling facility to Nucor.
- 2014: Nucor Corporation announced on 8th October its purchase of all the equity of Gallatin Steel Company for approximately $770 million.
- 2015: Nucor invested ~$750 million in the St James mill, a direct reduced iron plant that uses natural gas to make high-purity steel pellets (DRI) from iron ore. Nucor mixes the pellets with scrap metal to make steel.
- 2016: Independence Tube is a leading manufacturer of hollow structural section steel tubing, which is used in a wide range of structural and mechanical applications including non-residential construction, infrastructure, and agricultural and construction equipment.
- 2016: Southland Tube is an independent manufacturer of hollow structural section steel tubing with annual shipments of about 240,000 tons.
- 2016: The acquisition by Nucor of Republic Conduit in Q4 2016 marks the company's third tube and pipe acquisition this year. Republic Conduit produces electrogalvanized electrical metallic tubing and intermediate metal conduit, as well as hot-dip galvanized electrical rigid metal conduit. The $335m purchase price amounts to approximately 6 times the average of Republic Conduit's 2015 and projected 2016 EBITDA.
- 2017: Omega Joist produces open web steel joists at its manufacturing facility located in Nisku, Alberta.
- 2018: New $240 million rebar micro mill will be located in Frostproof, Florida. The steel mill will employ approximately 250 people and will have a capacity of 350,000 tons/year.
- 2019: New state-of-the-art steel plate mill will be located in Brandenburg, Kentucky; along the Ohio River. Nucor will invest approximately $1.35 billion in this facility, which will be capable of producing 1.2 million tons per year of plate products. The plate mill will employ more than 400 full-time staff at an average annual salary of $72,000, and is expected to be fully operational in 2022, pending permit and regulatory approvals.
- 2019: TrueCore is an insulated metal panel manufacturing company with a facility in Laurens, SC. The firm employs 26 staff. TrueCore caters to the cold storage market and plans for additional industrial as well as commercial applications in the future.
- 2020: The Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico plant in Silao Guanajuato (in central Mexico) produces hot-dip galvanized sheet steel for the automotive market. The plant has an annual production capacity of around 400,000 short tons per annum, and produces sheets in thicknesses from 0.4 mm to 2.6 mm and in widths of 800 mm to 1,850 mm.
- 2020: Precoat Metals Corporation's paint line facility, located near the Nucor Steel Arkansas sheet mill, has a capacity of approximately 250 kt per year. Nucor had considered building a greenfield paint line before deciding to acquire the Precoat Metals facility.
- 2021: Power purchase deal was a 10-year agreement with Ørsted Onshore North America for 100 megawatts from Ørsted's Western Trail wind farm in North Texas.
- 2021: Cornerstone deal - valued at ~$1 billion - centred on acquisition of the insulated metal panels (IMP) business. This business division has seven manufacturing facilities located throughout North America at locations that complement the footprint of the Nucor Buildings Group and its existing IMP business. Through this deal, Nucor purchased two brands— Centria and Metl-Span— which provide a variety of products to service architectural and warehousing applications.
- 2021: California Steel Industries is a flat-rolled steel converter with the capability to produce more than 2 million short tons per annum of steel products. The company has five product lines, including hot rolled, pickled and oiled, cold rolled, galvanized, and ERW pipe.
- 2022: Elite Storage Solutions has a manufacturing presence in Monroe (Georgia) and Chandler (Arizona). Acquisition cost was US $75 million.
- 2022: Summit Utility Structures LLC and related company Sovereign Steel Manufacturing LLC are producers of metal poles and other steel structures used for infrastructure and highway signage. The newly acquired firms will become part of a new business unit called Nucor Towers & Structures, which serves the utility, transportation and telecommunication sectors.
- 2023: Nucor announced mid-year that the firm’s Towers & Structures business unit would build a new state-of-the-art utility structures manufacturing facility in Crawfordsville, Indiana; investing $115 million and creating up to 200 new jobs by the end of 2027.
- 2023: Under this CCS agreement, ExxonMobil will capture, transport, and store carbon from Nucor's direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in Convent, Louisiana. Up to 800,000 metric tons per year of CO2 will be removed from the Louisiana DRI plant and stored at a local ExxonMobil facility.
- 2023: Garden Street Iron & Metal is a Cincinnati-based scrap recycler with state-of-the-art scrap metal processing equipment. The firm was established in 1957.
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