Steel Dynamics is undertaking a $100 million expansion at its Lowndes County facility, a move company officials say will add 40 new positions.
The announcement was made today at the 1,400-acre plant in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park. Gov. Phil Bryant was in attendance.
At a meeting this morning, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to help the project. The county will apply for a $1 million MDA rail loan from the Mississippi Development Authority that will help pay for a 2,000-foot railway extension to the site. The loan will be paid back over 10 years.
The county will also serve as the agency through which additional grants and loans will be executed, including a $1.95 million MDA grant that will pay for road projects associated with the expansion. The county will also apply for $850,000 worth of grants to help pay for sewage and water expansion to the site and railroad improvements.
Steel Dynamics Inc., which is based in Indiana, purchased the steel mill from Severstal North America eight months ago.
“We knew when Steel Dynamics gained control of the Columbus facility, that we would be in great hands,” Harry Sanders, president of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, said. “When this plant was planned in 2004, we knew that this project would mean positive reinvestment for decades to come, and it has proven true.”
Specifics of plan
The company’s expansion involves adding painting and Galvalume capabilities at the plant. Galvalume is an zinc/aluminum coating that is more corrosion-resistant than traditional galvanized steel. Adding paint to steel that can be molded and impressed upon without fading or cracking adds value. It’s most popular use is for roofing.
The 40 jobs the expansion is creating will pay in the $80,000 per year range, according to Golden Triangle Development LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins.
Lowndes County supervisors voted unanimously to enter into a 10 year fee-in-lieu tax plan agreement with Steel Dynamics this morning. For that decade, the county will see $425,000 in taxes annually, about $230,000 of which will go to Lowndes County School District. After the county pays back its loans each fee-in-lieu year, it will profit $65,000 according to Higgins.
“I think what you’ll see is that the school district will get in the neighborhood of $225,000 to $230,000 from the fee-in-lieu agreement and the county would get $65,000,” Higgins said. “This is a project that will pay for itself.”
Higgins told supervisors this morning the annual repayment on the $1 million MDA loan would come to $106,000.
The expansion building will be along Airport Road. Higgins said it will be a long, thin building that will mainly serve as a paint shop.
“We are excited about this important strategic step toward further diversifying our high quality steel product offering at Columbus to include higher-margin steel products for our customers,” Mark D. Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics, said. “The most significant portion of our expansion plans is the addition of a state-of-the-art continuous coil coating paint line, capable of producing 250,000 tons annually. We expect operations to begin early in 2017.”
Steel Dynamics’ facility in Lowndes County is capable of producing 3.4 million tons of steel a year.
“When we originally landed this project, our internal goal was to add further value to 30 percent of the production,” Higgins said. “This expansion will enhance the opportunity to add value on site.”
Steel Dynamics currently employs around 630 people.
Dispatch reporter Slim Smith contributed to this report.
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