Bevin elated with $650M, 70-job expansion at Kentucky steel mill

Gov. Matt Bevin announced Saturday a $650 million investment of the Nucor Corp. steel mill plant in Northern Kentucky.

“Kentucky’s pro-business policies are WORKING for You!” Bevin tweeted on his Twitter account.

Bevin called Nucor “a major player in the steel and primary metals industry,” and said, “we are grateful for their commitment to forging success in Kentucky.”

The business said in a release Friday that its board of directors had approved the investment to expand the production capability of the mill near Ghent. The plant is near the Gallatin-Carroll County line.

It said the investment will increase the production capability from 1.6 million tons to about 3 million tons annually and will allow the mill to produce coils up to 73 inches wide.

The investment will create 70 full-time jobs. The release did not say what the salaries will be for the new jobs nor details of any state incentives.

John Farris, vice president and general manager for Nucor Steel Gallatin, thanked Bevin, local officials, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Owen Electric, its employees and the community for their support of the investment.

“The project will allow us to better serve our automotive and value-added customers,” he said.

Nucor and its affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada.

The expansion at the Kentucky mill complements a $176 million investment currently under way with 75 new full-time jobs to construct a hot band continuous galvanizing line. The line is expected to be operating in the first half of 2019 and will produce about 500,000 tons per year of galvanized hot band steel.

Nucor, headquartered in North Carolina, acquired the former Gallatin Steel Company in late 2014 for about $780 million. It currently has 465 employees.

This story was originally published September 8, 2018 at 5:01 PM.