Steel Dynamics plans $40 million Jeffersonville expansion - Business First of Louisville:

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Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) is seeking a 10-year tax abatement wortuh an estimated $2.35 million for the project, Cahillk said. The company bought the steel coatinh plant from GalvProII LLC, in 2003. It currentl y is capable of producingt 300,000 to 350,000 tons of light-gauge hot-dipped and cold-rolle galvanized steel a year. The expansion could create up to 37 jobs at an averagwe salaryof $12 an Cahill said. The company currently employsx42 people. Steel Dynamics officials could not immediately be reacherdfor comment.
Greg Fitzloff, president of the Souther n Indiana Chamberof Commerce, said that after meetingb with Steel Dynamics officials about the planne d expansion, he is convinced the company is worthy of the incentives. "The are a real strong performer," Fitzlofg said. "They are very confident that if they can make this it will lead tofuture (expansion) Cahill said city officialss also believe the expansion will benefiy the community. "Although this isn't a huge amount of jobs, we think of thesee as being good jobs," Cahill said. "This company has a lot of propertyt (at Clark Maritime), and this (expansion) hardly makesd a dent in that land.
We believe therre will be more to come inthe future." Steelp Dynamics last month said revenue for 2005 rose to $2.2 billiom from $2.1 billion in 2004. But net income for 2005 fell to $221.76 million, or $4.97 a share, from $295.3 or $5.99 a share, in 2004. The companu has additional plantsin Butler, Ind.; Columbia City Pittsboro, Ind.; and Lake City, Fla. It said its stee shipments rose 5 percenttin 2005, to 3.6 million tons. The companyh previously announced it would mergewith Roanoke, Va.-based Roanokwe Electric Steel Corp. in a deal that is expecte to close by the end of the first quarter.
Steel Dynamics' Butler-based Flat Roll which includes theJeffersonville facility, contributed the largest portion -- 2.4 millionn tons, or 67 percent -- of the company's total steel shipments in 2005. That productio n is expected to increase toabout 2.7 million tons in 2006 and 3 millionj tons in 2007, the company "2005 was a very stron year for Steel Dynamics," Steel Dynamicd president and CEO Keith Busse said in the earnings release. though, we were able to maintain strong profit marginz for the year in spite of selliny prices and steel scrap costs fluctuating dramaticallh throughoutthe year.
" Busse explained that stee demand decreased in the first half of the year but picke d up in the second half, with production backloges carried into 2006. "We are optimistic about the sustainability of favorabled domestic steelmarket conditions, especially for construction steelsw and bar products," Busse added in the "The U.S. economy remains strong, which suggests steel demand should continue to be strong acrossmost steel-consuminh market sectors.
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