BAYTOWN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JSW USA announced today its plans to invest up to $500 million to install the most technologically advanced and eco-friendly hot end facility in the world, setting a new industry standard. The project was unveiled before an audience of more than 100 that included Texas Congressman Brian Babin, representatives from U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn’s offices, local economic development officials and employees. Also attending was Parth Jindal, Director of JSW USA and son of the Chairman and Managing Director of JSW Group, a $13 billion India-based Group, of which JSW USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary.
The announcement marks the second and larger phase of a much-needed overall plate mill modernization and expansion project that began in June 2017. This is the first equipment installation and upgrade to the facility since it was built by U.S. Steel in 1968, and will have a major impact on many levels.
“After more than two years of hard work, planning and hoping, our vision to become the plate mill of the future is finally here,” said John Hritz, President and CEO of JSW USA. “Thanks to the ongoing support of so many individuals and partners in industry and government, both at the local and national levels, we’re proud to be leading the way for the resurgence of the U.S. steel industry. Not only will this project spur economic activity, but it will give back to the community that has given so much to us.”
Once the hot end project launches, JSW USA will begin what will be a $5.8 billion economic impact on the Texas economy, and is expected to create 500 new high-wage American jobs before it becomes operational 18 to 24 months later. The addition of the hot end will make JSW USA the world’s only plate mill with a contiguous large-diameter pipe mill, enabling it to be considered a “melt and manufacture” facility in the U.S., with a new ability to produce its own slabs to feed the mills, instead of needing to buy foreign slabs.
With Best Available Control Technology (BACT), the hot end’s electric arc furnace was designed to generate the lowest emissions possible for steel production, setting a new worldwide industry environmental standard. What’s more, JSW USA will be the only entity of its kind (for the products it makes in North America) blending scrap with direct-reduced iron (DRI)/hot briquetted iron (HBI), which is more energy efficient and more economical.
This overall broader production capability will increase JSW USA’s product offerings, as well as allow expansion into new, significant markets, including defense, energy, pipeline, renewable energy, and infrastructure. The facility will also provide strong support to regional business, OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), and value-added manufacturing for steel-making and associated industries, and opens the door for producing new propriety steels with R & D firms.
"With the impact that this project will have, not only on the U.S. manufacturing market, but on the global stage as well, our investment to create the most advanced, highest quality, and lowest cost steel product is simply smart business,” said Parth Jindal, Director of JSW USA. “JSW USA is building a plant with such technology that it will be renowned the world over.”
JSW USA contracted with Danieli for the first modernization stage of the project, and has awarded the hot end construction based on technological capabilities. The hot end will be built on 111 acres at JSW USA’s 700-acre Baytown campus.
JSW USA, based in Baytown, Texas, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Group, a $13 billion group headquartered in India with more than 40,000 employees worldwide. JSW operates a uniquely integrated plate/pipe mill complex with a strategic location for North American export markets.
