Austrian-headquartered Benteler Steel is in the process of constructing a $975 million steel plant in Caddo Parish, La. The two-year project has created 1,000 construction jobs and is currently one of the largest projects in the state.
Matthias Jaeger, President and CEO of Benteler Steel/Tube GmbH, says the project is being constructed in two phases on a 330-acre site. The first, which is expected to be finished in late 2015, is the construction of a hot rolling tube mill, along with several finishing lines, for the production of seamless steel tubes. The second phase, to be started later and completed in 2020, involves constructing an electric arc furnace for producing high-quality steel on-site. The finished facility will span more than 1.35 million sq ft with the capacity to produce up to 320,000 tonnes of steel tubes annually.