U.S. Southwest Hosts $1.5 Billion-Plus in Metals & Minerals Kickoffs this Year

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. Southwest region is best known for its extensive oil and gas assets, but it also is home to a growing number of projects in the Metals & Minerals Industry, including new and expanded facilities that reflect a revived steel-processing sector and higher demand for products such as industrial sand. Industrial Info is tracking more than $1.5 billion in active Metals & Minerals projects that are set to begin construction in the Southwest region before the end of the year.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Metals & Minerals Industry kickoffs in the U.S. Southwest for the second half of 2018, by state.

The Southwest region includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

The single largest project in the region is Big River Steel LLC's $1.2 billion expansion of its steel minimill and scrap-recycling facility in Osceola, Arkansas, which would more than double the plant's capacity from 1.6 million to 3.3 million tons per year of hot-rolled steel. The expansion remains in its design phase, but its proposal marks rapid growth for the Osceola facility, which opened its doors just early last year. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Big River Steel announced the expansion late last month and said it would nearly double the number of employees at the facility to more than 1,000. The company expects to produce higher grades of electrical steel that are key ingredients in industries that are seeing higher demand, such as energy-efficient power-generation facilities and hybrid and electric vehicle production, according to Business Facilities.

Also in Arkansas, Granges AB (Stockholm, Sweden) is proposing a $26 million reopening of its aluminum foil mill in Newport. The facility has one of the widest aluminum rolling mills in the U.S., according to Arkansas Online and produced light-gauge aluminum foil until it was closed in 2015. Granges acquired the facility the following year, when it purchased Noranda Aluminum, and currently expects production to restart by the end of first-quarter 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Calstrip Industries Incorporated (Mira Loma, California) expects to complete the $15 million initial phase of its steel-processing plant in Blytheville, Arkansas, around the same time. The 100,000-square-foot facility will meet specific storage and processing requirements for Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) (Charlotte, North Carolina). Two future expansions are expected to bring the facility's total size to more than 300,000 square feet. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

Producers in the U.S. Southwest region also are rising to meet a new challenge in the Metals & Minerals Industry: Surging demand for industrial sand used for hydraulic fracturing in the Oil & Gas Industry. The largest of these projects is Alpine Silica LLC's (San Angelo, Texas) $75 million frac sand mine and processing plant in Fay, Oklahoma. The company, which already has an operational plant in the Permian Basin, expects to produce 3 million tons per year of high-quality frac sand and has secured nearly 51 million tons of reserves for the facility. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

"Frac sand mining and distribution continues to be a hot topic, with numerous new projects coming online and being planned to support increased drilling activity in the Permian and Oklahoma regional basins," said to Joe Govreau, Vice President of Research for the Metals & Minerals Industry for Industrial Info.

The growth of the frac sand industry marks a stunning turnaround for a product that was all but worthless just two years ago. In just the past year, 10 mines have opened in the Permian Basin area that, along with almost as many in development, will mine and ship about 22 million tons of sand before the end of this year to Permian-based shale drillers, according to World Oil. An industry watcher recently told Industrial Info that about half of the 100 million tons of demand for U.S. frac sand is from the Permian Basin alone, which has become a bellwether for the industry. For more information, see June 22, 2018, article - Local Frac Sand Mines Coming Online, but 'Last Mile' Challenges Continue.

Black Mountain Sand, a subsidiary of Black Mountain Operating LLC (Fort Worth, Texas), is seeking permits for two proposed frac sand mines in Texas: a $25 million mine in Carrizo Springs and a $25 million mine in Monahans, each of which is designed to produce 1.27 million tons per year of frac sand. Shale Support LLC (Lafayette, Louisiana) is planning a $20 million expansion at a frac sand plant in Kinder, Louisiana, after it acquired the wet-and-dry operation earlier this year. Shale Support plans to double capacity to 1.4 million tons per year. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Carrizo Springs, Monahans and Kinder projects.

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/.