Nucor Corp. broke ground on its 400-job, $1.7 billion steel-plate manufacturing mill in Meade County, Ky. The project is expected to employ up to 1,500 contractors during construction. Located along the Ohio River in Brandenburg, the 1.5-million-square-foot operation will provide Nucor with 1.2 million tons of annual capacity for steel-plate production. Full-time jobs will include equipment operators, production specialists, safety and environmental technicians, engineers and office support staff. The mill is scheduled to open in 2022.

Logistically, Nucor Steel Brandenburg takes advantage of Kentucky’s key geographic location. Access to the Ohio River will allow Nucor to supply the mill with direct-reduced iron and scrap steel by barge. In using an electric-arc furnace (EAF), the mill will leverage Kentucky’s competitive industrial electricity rates.

Nucor and its affiliates employ approximately 2,000 people at numerous facilities in Kentucky alone, including Nucor Steel Gallatin, Nucor Tubular Products Louisville, Harris Rebar and a 50% ownership stake in Steel Technologies. The company recently completed Phase I of an $826 million expansion project at its Nucor Steel Gallatin mill in Ghent. That mill, which produces flat-rolled steel coils, is now in the middle of Phase II. The Gallatin mill expansions are creating 145 full-time jobs.