Steel Dynamics, Fort Wayne, Ind, announced that it will construct and operate a 650,000-tonne low-carbon, recycled aluminum flat rolled mill, with two supporting satellite recycled aluminum slab centers. The capital investment is estimated to be $2.2 billion for the three facilities, and commercial production is planned to begin in the first quarter 2025.
Steel Dynamics’ steel customers are significant consumers and processors of aluminum flat rolled products, and also seek the company’s high-quality, sustainable, customer-centric approach within the aluminum flat rolled market. The state-of-the-art aluminum flat rolled mill will utilize a significant amount of aluminum scrap, and as such is also a complementary extension of the company’s metals recycling platform, which is the largest nonferrous metals recycler in North America. The company estimates the project will generate between $650 million and $700 million of annual EBITDA on a through-cycle basis. The project will be funded with available cash and cash flow from operations, and the company plans to maintain its policy of strong shareholder distributions and investment grade credit ratings.
The North American flat rolled aluminum industry has a substantial and growing supply deficit estimated at over 2.0 million tonnes, based largely on increasing demand from the automotive and sustainable beverage can industries. The lack of aluminum flat rolled availability has impacted automotive producers’ ability to secure supply. The supply deficit is currently being addressed through imports of higher-cost aluminum flat rolled products, which exceeded 25 percent of North American consumption in 2021.
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