JSW Steel Mulls $500 Million Investment in Texas

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--JSW Steel USA Incorporated may spend as much as $500 million to expand its plate and pipe mill in Baytown, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the company to help develop the expansion. Industrial Info is tracking three active JSW projects in Baytown.

Abbott said the expansion would be made in phases. A Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant offer of $3.4 million was extended to JSW Steel. Abbott made the announcement while visiting the global headquarters of JSW Steel USA's parent company, JSW Group (Mumbai, India).

Industrial Info is tracking more than $6 billion in steel works and blast furnace projects that are expected to kick off this year in the U.S.

Click on the image at right for a graph showing steel works and blast furnace project kickoffs in 2018 by U.S. market region.

Parth Jindal of JSW Group said the memorandum of cooperation "reiterates our commitment to stay invested and grow in the U.S. market."

Jindal continued: "Access to natural gas at extremely economical prices and the abundant availability of scrap steel in Texas make conditions very conducive for manufacturing through the electric arc furnace route. JSW Steel (USA) Inc. wishes to create a world class fully integrated steel complex that will bring precision manufacturing of high quality steel plate and pipe to Texas, USA."

Reuters reported that JSW would spend $150 million to improve and modernize its plant in Baytown, while the rest would fund a new facility. The Baytown plate division mill rolls hot-rolled plate with widths of up to 160 inches, and thicknesses up to 6 inches. It serves shipyards, oilfield fabricators, heavy equipment producers, machinery makers and other end users, according to the company.

The current Baytown facilities include a 1.2 million-ton-per-year steel plate mill and a 500,000 ton-per-year pipe mill. The plans call for construction of a 1 million-ton-per-year melt shop addition, along with the installation of an electric arc furnace and a 120-inch-wide caster. Construction could kick off in the second quarter of this year, with completion in third-quarter 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Last year, JSW Steel completed construction of a merit shop for a steel pipe and plate mill descaling system, hot leveler and mill stand addition as part of an $80 million, three-phase project at the Baytown site. For more information, see industrial info's project report.

Plans also call for a pipe and plate mill shearing line addition and a cooling bed addition at the Baytown facility.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.