By Paul Ploumis

ScrapMonster Author

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) has announced an investment of nearly $28 million in expanding its Virginia mill operations. The investment is expected to expand and diversify operations at its Roanoke Bar Division, located in Roanoke, Virginia. The upgrade will boost the mill’s rolling capacity from the current 500,000 tons per year (tpy) to over 600,000 tpy, noted the company press release. The commissioning is expected to commence by end-2017.

According to Joe Crawford, Vice President and Roanoke Bar Division General Manager, the new upgrade will integrate a new reheating furnace and a new finishing area into the facility. SDI has already entered into an agreement with SMS Group, the German equipment major for the expansion project. The new equipment will support multi-strand slitting and rebar finishing. The added product diversification coupled with its highly competitive cost structure will help the company to gain more market share, Crawford added.

The upgrade aims to install a pusher-type high capacity reheating furnace, capable to process up to 140 tons of billets per hour, a significant improvement to the mill’s current production capacity. These billets will then be rolled into diversified products such as light sections, reinforcing bars of various sizes and round bars. The smart combustion management system installed in the new device would deliver increased energy efficiency. Upon completion of the upgrade activities, the facility aims to produce 200,000 tons of rebar every year.

Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Todd Haymore highlighted the strong reputation that the company has built in Virginia, especially in the Roanoke region. The infrastructure enhancements at the facility will further bolster its activities including steel manufacturing, scrap processing and marketing of merchant steel products and billets. SDI will provide retraining to over 300 existing employees in partnership with the Virginia Jobs Investment Program (VJIP) under the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP). The project will also be funded by the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program. In addition, it will also receive funding assistance towards rail access from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.

About Steel Dynamics, Inc.

Founded in 1993, Steel Dynamics, Inc. is one of the largest domestic steel producers and metals recyclers in the United States based on estimated annual steelmaking and metals recycling capability, with annual revenues of $8.8 billion in 2014, over 7,700 employees. SDI has manufacturing facilities primarily located throughout the United States, including six steel mills, eight steel processing facilities, two iron production facilities, over 90 metals recycling locations and six steel fabrication plants. The company produces various steel products and liquid pig iron. It also processes and sells ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.