Nucor Corporation has announced plans for the continued expansion of special bar quality production capabilities over the next two years. It has approved USD 290 million for projects to be completed at our Memphis, Tennessee, Norfolk, Nebraska and Darlington, South Carolina steel mills that will expand our SBQ and wire rod capacities by a combined one million tonnes.

These capital plans also include investments in state of the art quality inspection capabilities necessary to ensure the highest qualities for the most demanding engineered bar applications. Engineering studies have been finalized, and we expect to complete each of the projects by the end of 2013 subject to federal, state and local regulatory and other approvals.

Mr Daniel R DiMicco chairman & CEO of Nucor said that "We are excited about these new investments in a strategic and growing segment of our bar mill business. Looking forward, we continue to see strength in the engineered bar markets, driven by energy, automotive, heavy truck and heavy equipment manufacturers. Furthermore, we believe that manufacturing growth in the US will allow the SBQ markets to continue to grow over the next several years. These investments not only enhance our steel industry leadership status, but most importantly, position Nucor to meet the growing demands of our engineered bar customers. Finally, it is important to understand that we will continue to provide our full range of merchant, structural and rebar products to all of our traditional regional customers through our existing mill network."