Construction continues on the Nucor steel mill in Apple Grove, Mason County, on Oct. 25, 2024.
Office of U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin | Courtesy photo
Nucor’s $4 billion steel mill under construction 45 miles northwest of Charleston is half-finished and on schedule for completion late next year.
“While construction on our West Virginia sheet mill will continue through 2026, the team there continues to do a great job of moving the project forward,†Nucor CEO Leon Topalian told investment analysts on a conference call Tuesday morning.
“We’re near the midpoint of the construction timeline, and equipment installation is well underway. We remain on schedule to commission the mill by the end of next year and look forward to supplying the markets with some of North America’s cleanest and most advanced sheet steels.â€
1Q 2025 earnings down, import tariffs welcomed
Topalian’s comments came as Nucor Corp. executives had their quarterly call following Monday evening’s release of Nucor’s first-quarter earnings report. Nucor reported earnings of $156 million in the quarter, down from $179 million in the first quarter of 2024. But Topalian and others say investors should expect “meaningfully higher†earnings in this quarter.
In the first quarter, Nucor saw backlogs increase more than 30% in its steel mill segments and nearly 25% in steel products, Topalian said. Some of that may be a result of customers getting orders in early to beat the rush that may be caused by the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs on steel imports, he said.
Some of the production equipment going into the mill at Apple Grove in Mason County is imported from Italy and Germany, but a large part of it has been delivered to the site already, thus avoiding tariffs that may come in the near future on such imports, Topalian said.
Nucor has endorsed tariffs on imported steel, and Topalian repeated that support during the conference call.
“Over the past several months, we’ve seen significant changes in federal trade policy, including the welcome reinstatement and broadening of Section 232 steel tariffs. Since its implementation in 2018, the 232 tariffs have been significantly weakened through country exemptions, quotas and numerous product exclusions. By 2024, fewer than 18% of steel imports were subject to Section 232 tariffs,†Topalian said. “Ending the exclusions and quota agreements was necessary to strengthen the U.S. steel industry, which was the original goal of the 232 tariffs. We have always maintained the belief that America’s national security depends on a robust and healthy American steel industry. As America’s largest and most diversified steel producer, we applaud recent steps to help level the playing field for American steel producers.â€
More on Nucor
Nucor is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the United States’ largest manufacturer of steel and steel products, and it is North America’s largest recycler. It makes steel through recycling scrap metal in electric arc furnaces. It has production facilities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The mill in Mason County will be Nucor’s largest, with 50 acres under roof. It will occupy land on both sides of W.Va. 2 about a 50-minute drive from downtown Charleston. The mill will produce sheet steel for customers in the Midwest. The company currently employs 300 full-time workers and is expected to employ 800 people when fully operational. About 1,100 construction workers are currently on site.
