Steel company opening $450M 'micro mill' in West Virginia
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A company that recycles scrap metal and turns it into sustainable steel plans to open a $450 million "micro mill" in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, Gov. Jim Justice announced Thursday.
Commercial Metals Company plans to open the mill in Berkeley County in late 2025, the Republican governor said in a press release. Construction will start in 2023.
The facility is expected to have the ability to produce 500,000 tons of straight-length rebar and a premium spooled rebar. The steel will be used to build highways, bridges and industrial structures, Justice said.
Commercial Metals Company's steel mills use electric energy and 100% recycled scrap to produce its products, according to the release. The West Virginia micro mill will recycle more than 19 billion pounds of metal each year.
"The Mountain State has a proud history in the steel industry and this investment is yet another example of West Virginia welcoming this industry into our state," Justice said.
Commercial Metals Company was founded in 1915 as a metal recycling facility in Dallas. As of 2022, the company operates 50 metals recycling centers, seven electric arc furnace mini mills, two electric arc furnace micro mills, a rerolling mill and more than 100 downstream manufacturing locations globally. The Eastern Panhandle facility will be the company's first location in West Virginia.
West Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael said the mill will be a "tremendous asset" to the state: "There's no doubt that West Virginia is the best place for this micro mill," he said.
