Nucor-Yamato Steel Brings New Energy Efficient Process to Blytheville Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Nucor-Yamato Steel Company (Blytheville, Arkansas) was formed in 1987 as a partnership between Nucor Corporation (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Yamato Kogyo Company Limited (Himeji City, Japan). The purpose of the partnership was to build and operate a steel mini-mill to manufacture medium section wide-flange beams. Construction on the mill began in 1987. The original capacity was 650,000 tons per year. In September 1988, Nucor-Yamato shipped its first wide-flange beam. A mini-mill is traditionally a secondary steel producer, obtaining most of the needed iron from scrap steel, recycled from used automobiles and equipment or other byproducts from manufacturing. Direct reduced iron (DRI) is sometimes used with scrap to help maintain desired chemistry of the steel, although DRI is usually too expensive to use as the primary raw steelmaking material. Nucor is counted among a select few companies that use mini-mills exclusively.

Over the years, the plant has seen numerous additions, upgrades, expansions and maintenance projects, investing millions of dollars. By 1991, the mill was exceeding design capacity, and in 1992 the company broke ground on a second production facility at the same location to produce an expanded product range. The most recent project, the Castrip mill expansion, carries a price tag of $120 million.

Capital and maintenance spending at steel-making mills is analyzed in Industrial Info's recently released United States and Canada Steel Making Industry Wall Map - 3rd Edition.

CH2M HILL (Moon Township, Pennsylvania) is providing project management and construction engineering services for the Castrip project at Nucor-Yamato's plant in Blytheville. The addition includes a new ladle metallurgy furnace, two vacuum degasser stations, a thin strip caster, a rolling mill, down coilers and water systems. Production is expected to increase by 500,000 tons a year at the 2.5 million-ton-per-year plant.

The Castrip process, a new production method, reduces the amount of energy necessary to produce sheet metal and generate lower emissions than traditional production methods. It is considered to be the first commercial technology for the production of carbon and stainless steel sheet achieved through a twin-roll process. The process technology and metallurgical properties of the Castrip's ultra-thin cast strip methods provide a plethora of economic benefits through reduced capital, energy, labor and maintenance costs. With construction moving ahead as planned, production is scheduled to begin in fall/winter 2008. This project is expected to create 75-85 jobs.

Blytheville is located in the low, flat Mississippi Delta. There are two natural forces that have shaped Blytheville. The first is the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Blytheville lies near the epicenter of the record-setting New Madrid earthquakes (1811-12). One can only hope that these quakes are a thing of the past. The second shaping force, one that is still very important today, is the Mississippi River, which provides an important waterway for shipping.

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