Nucor Corp. will invest $200 million over five years to modernize its Nucor Steel Berkeley mill in Huger, including a plant that will make the industrial gases the steelmaking operation needs.

The Charlotte-based steelmaker announced the plan Tuesday. Part of the money will go to an air separation unit, which will produce and supply all of the mill’s gases from a new Nucor-owned facility, pending permit and regulatory approvals, the company said.

The expansion is expected to be finished by the end of 2024, according to the S.C. Department of Commerce.

The unit will make gases such as oxygen, argon and nitrogen for the mill, which can produce up to 3.5 million tons of flat-rolled sheet and structural steel a year, The Post and Courier reported.

Bringing gas in-house

Nucor Steel Berkeley now buys its industrial gases under a long-term supply agreement, Nucor said. When the new unit is complete, it will be run by UIG LLC, a wholly owned Nucor subsidiary that specializes in industrial gas supply and services.

“Nucor acquired UIG, LLC in 2019 so that we would have the capability to design, build and operate our own air separation units, giving us an alternative to long-term service contracts with outside providers,” said Mike Lee, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Berkeley. “We are proud of our company’s long-time partnership with the state of South Carolina, and we are excited to continue to invest in the state where Nucor first began operating nearly 60 years ago.”

The move could help shield Nucor from swings in gas prices, The Post and Courier reported. Tight supplies, supplier consolidation and the war in Ukraine have pushed industrial gas prices up, with nitrogen hitting record highs this summer and argon costs more than doubling from 2016 to 2021, according to the newspaper.

Bringing that production in-house has been a long-term goal for Nucor. In a 2020 conference call, Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian told investors that the UIG acquisition “will lower our steelmaking costs, develop commercial sales opportunities for liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon, and over time, have the ability to offer design-build operations for third-party sales,” The Post and Courier reported.

Incentives

The S.C. Coordinating Council for Economic Development approved a $100,000 set-aside grant to Berkeley County to help with costs related to the project, the Commerce Department said. Santee Cooper, which supplies power to the mill, will also give the county $100,000 to help offset the costs, through a fund the utility set up to help local governments and nonprofits recruit and keep industry, The Post and Courier reported.

Nucor and Berkeley County also entered into a fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement, the company said.

“Once again, we’re excited to watch Nucor grow its footprint within our state,” Gov. Henry McMaster said in the state’s announcement. “This sends a signal to other businesses that South Carolina is a great place to locate and find long-term success.”

Commerce Secretary Harry M. Lightsey III called the expansion “further proof of the company’s ability to embrace new technologies to grow its operations and achieve greater efficiencies.”

The mill

Nucor Steel Berkeley sits along the Cooper River at 1455 Old Hagan Ave. in Huger. It opened in 1996, and Nucor has invested $1.3 billion there since, according to the state’s announcement and The Post and Courier.

“Nucor Steel has been a critical part of Berkeley County’s successful industrial sector for over 26 years,” Berkeley County Supervisor Johnny Cribb said in the state’s announcement.

The mill employs about 1,000 workers, has a no-layoff policy and provides jobs that pay roughly $100,000 a year, The Post and Courier reported. It makes steel for agriculture, automotive, construction, energy generation and transmission, heavy equipment and transportation, among other industries, according to the newspaper.

The plant has had several upgrades since it opened. In 2014, it started up a project of nearly $100 million that lets it make wider and thinner high-strength steel grades for markets including metal buildings, rail cars, automotive and heavy equipment, Nucor said in its annual report.

Nucor, with roots dating to 1905, makes products including carbon and alloy steel, hollow structural tubing, electrical conduit and precision castings, according to the Commerce Department.

People interested in jobs with Nucor or UIG should visit the company’s careers page, the state said.