SCBIZ Daily Staff

CHARLESTON – Nucor Corp., a steel manufacturer with facilities in Canada and the U.S., including several in South Carolina, has applied for a permit to build a $2 billion manufacturing facility in St. James Parish, La.

For the last two years, Nucor has been considering sites on which to build a state-of-the-art iron-making facility in the U.S. and abroad. Nucor considered many factors in its search, including the features of each site, transportation, permitting, the commitment of the state's leadership to the project and the proposed incentive packages.

Officials were not available for comment at press time on whether any sites in South Carolina were considered for the new facility.

The Louisiana project is not a certainty, as the company is still considering sites outside of the U.S. However, the company has still applied for permits and is proposing the site to its board members who must approve the site and the capital investment. If the project is ultimately built in the U.S., it would be the first greenfield pig iron facility built here in more than 30 years.

Nucor has plans for the new facility to produce 3 million tons of pig iron, employing the latest technologies to reduce emissions.

Approximately 2,600 permanent jobs would be created by suppliers and businesses that either move into the area or expand in order to support the first phase of Nucor's operation. It's estimated that St. James Parish would earn an additional $3.3 million annually in sales tax receipts and new business sales in the Parish would rise by almost $1.2 billion annually from phase one alone.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Nucor is the nation’s largest steel manufacturer. Its facilities in South Carolina include those in Swansea, Darlington and Berkeley.