Mar 5 2007
Steel Dynamics, Inc. today announced that its Board of Directors has approved an investment of $35 million at its Pittsboro, Indiana, Engineered Bar Products Division designed to increase the mill’s production capacity. The planned modifications to the mill are expected to increase its annual production capacity for special-bar-quality (SBQ) steels from the current 500,000 tons per year to about 725,000 tons per year.
The changes to the mill will include EAF-furnace and caster modifications of roughly $10 million and rolling-mill and reheat-furnace upgrades totaling about $25 million. The schedule calls for the bulk of investment to be completed in 2007. The mill’s principal products will continue to be SBQ round bars in a range of one inch to 9 inches in diameter.
Production volume has grown rapidly at the Pittsboro mill since the January 2004 restart of this mill which Steel Dynamics acquired out of bankruptcy. The addition of an on-site bar-processing and finishing facility in 2006 has opened up new customer opportunities for the mill, enhanced customer relationships, and allowed SDI to enter new market segments for SBQ products.
In 2006 the mill shipped 502,000 tons, supplying high-quality carbon- and alloy-steel to a variety of customers, including those in the heavy machinery, agriculture, transportation, and energy industries. Caterpillar, Inc. recently awarded a 2006 Quality Excellence Award to the Engineered Bar division for providing defect-free SBQ steel to Caterpillar N.A. in 2006.