Steel Mills

Nucor To Buy Steel Technologies Pickle Line in Ghent, Ky.

May 25, 2022

Nucor has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Steel Technologies LLC’s pickle line facility and associated equipment in Ghent, Ky., where the steelmaker also operates a sheet mill.

Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor said Steel Technologies would continue to own and operate slitting equipment at the Ghent location in a letter to customers dated Wednesday, May 25.

hand shake The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Nucor expects to take ownership of the facility on June 30. The steelmaker and Steel Technologies – a Louisville, Ky., based service center with locations across North America – will work in the meantime to make sure existing customers continue to receive pickled-and-oil (P&O) products from the line.

The pickle line in Ghent can process up to 450,000 tons of flat-rolled steel per year, Nucor said. It has capabilities ranging from .054-.500 min and can handle widths up to 72 inches.

Nucor steelmaker said the deal would allow it to continue to expand its offerings of value-added sheet products. And it will immediately benefit the company’s Ghent sheet mill, also known as Nucor Steel Gallatin, which is in the final stage of a hot mill expansion project.

That expansion will add 1.4 million tons per year of additional hot-rolled coil capacity. It will also allow the mill to roll coils up to 73.5 inches wide, higher strengths and heavier gauges – up to 1 inch, Nucor said.

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.