Steel Mills

Nucor Louisiana DRI Plant Still Down on Ida-Induced Barge Shortage

Written by Michael Cowden

September 14, 2021

Nucor’s direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant in Covent, La., remains down after being pre-emptively idled ahead of Hurricane Ida last month.

The reason: the storm resulted in a barge shortage on the Mississippi River, a Nucor spokeswoman said.

Nucor“We are prepared to resume operations as soon as additional barges are available,” she said.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker does not expect steelmaking to be interrupted by the lack of DRI output from Louisiana.

“At this time, our divisions have an adequate supply of DRI, so we do not anticipate this will have any impact on our steel production or our ability to serve our customers,” the spokeswoman said.

DRI can be used as an alternative to prime scrap.

The Convent facility, officially known as Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC, has capacity of 2.5 million tons per year, according to the 2021 Association for Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Directory of Iron and Steel Plants.

Nucor operates DRI plants in Convent – roughly 60 miles from New Orleans – and in Trinidad.

The Convent plant typically feeds Nucor’s inland mills and the Trinidad facility those located near the coast.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden

Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

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