OREANDA-NEWS. October 02, 2013. Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced that a storage dome collapsed at Nucor Steel Louisiana in St. James Parish.  There were no injuries and no environmental impact.  Nucor Steel Louisiana is finishing construction of its new Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) plant on the site and had planned to begin production within a few weeks.

Based on our preliminary assessment, we are currently forecasting the start-up of operations will now be delayed until the end of the year.

Direct reduced iron is one of the raw materials used in steelmaking and is produced by using natural gas to convert iron ore pellets into DRI.  The iron ore pellets are stored in domes.  The collapsed storage dome was one of three on the site.  Once in full operation, the DRI plant is anticipated to produce 2.5 million tons of DRI per year, making it the largest DRI plant in the world and the first one operating in the U.S. in several years.  Construction and hot commissioning of the plant are continuing during the incident investigation and damage assessment.

The DRI project is a USD750 million project.  Nucor Steel Louisiana has hired 140 people to work at the plant with a planned hiring goal of 150.  Construction of the plant has been underway for two years and has employed more than 600 construction workers during that time.

Nucor and affiliates are manufacturers of steel products, with operating facilities primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Products produced include: carbon and alloy steel -- in bars, beams, sheet and plate; steel piling; steel joists and joist girders; steel deck; fabricated concrete reinforcing steel; cold finished steel; steel fasteners; metal building systems; steel grating and expanded metal; and wire and wire mesh. Nucor, through The David J. Joseph Company, also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and HBI/DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap.  Nucor is North America's largest recycler.

Certain statements made in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.  The words "expect", "believe", "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify those forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements reflect our best judgment based on current information, and although we base these statements on circumstances that we believe to be reasonable when made, there can be no assurance that future events or information will not materially affect the accuracy of such statements.