Nucor Corporation announced that it will exit the business of fabricating light gauge steel framing and therefore will close its Nuconsteel division. Nuconsteel has operations at Denton in Texas and at Dallas in Georgia.

Nucor entered the residential and commercial light gauge steel framing business in November 2001 with the acquisition of Itec Steel Inc, which became Nuconsteel shortly thereafter.

Nucor expects to close Nuconsteel's facilities in the spring of 2012, after meeting current customer contractual obligations.

Mr Dan DiMicco chairman & CEO of Nucor said “This decision was a very difficult one due to the impact it has on our employees at Nuconsteel. We continually evaluate our business segments for long-term strategic fit and earnings potential. The fabrication of residential and commercial light gauge steel framing does not offer the returns or scale necessary for Nucor to remain in the business.”