Steel Dynamics Structural and Rail Division
Large load · 2601 COUNTY ROAD 700 EAST, Columbia City, IN
Steel Dynamics' Structural and Rail Division in Columbia City, Whitley County, Indiana, is the company's second-largest operation. It runs two electric arc furnaces, three rolling mills and a rail weld plant, making Class 1 rail up to 320 feet long, wide-flange beams, channels, H-pile and rebar. Power comes through Northeastern REMC with wholesale supply from Wabash Valley Power Association, under a service agreement the IURC approved in March 2002 as the mill was being built. No MW figure has been published for the site.
Overview
In March 2002 the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved a settlement letting Wabash Valley Power Association and Northeastern REMC serve Steel Dynamics' proposed steel mill. The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor was a party. The commission found the agreed rates, charges and fees sufficient to cover the cost of serving the plant. The release does not name the town, but the timing matches the Columbia City mill, which started production in 2002.
Profile
- Sited on a stiff section of grid
- SDI's site search for its second mill weighed utility costs, labour rates, high-pressure gas and what the division's general manager called a stiff section of the electrical grid. Those factors let Indiana edge out sites in Michigan and a late runner-up at the Port of Toledo. The original $315 million mini-mill was expanded to add extra-long rail and structural products.
- Two arc furnaces, three rolling mills
- The division now runs two EAFs with electromagnetic stirring and dynamic soft reduction, three rolling mills and a rail fixed weld plant. It is the only North American maker of hot-rolled finished rail up to 320 feet and supplies all Class I railroads. In 2017 SDI announced a $75 million new rolling mill to make it the largest independent rebar supplier in the region, which added rolling load and more melt-shop hours.
Facility
- Activity
- Electric arc furnace long-products mill: Class 1 rail, wide-flange beams, channels, angles, H-pile and rebar
- Industry
- Manufacturing
- Site type
- Facility
- Operating status
- Operating
Related records
Timeline
- Mar 13, 2002
- IURC approves the Wabash Valley Power and Northeastern REMC service settlement for SDI's new mill
IURC News
- Jul 5, 2017
- SDI announces a $75 million rebar rolling mill expansion at Columbia City
Steel Dynamics Plans $75M Columbia City Investment – Inside INdiana Business