BIRMINGHAM STEEL CORPORATION ANNOUNCES SITE FOR NEW MELT SHOP.BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1995--Birmingham Steel Corporation today announced that Memphis, Tennessee For the ancient Egyptian capital, see . Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just below the mouth of the Wolf River. , has been selected as the site for construction of a new melt shop to produce 1.5 million annual tons of semi-finished steel billets. The Company said that the facility will be located in the Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Area on the Mississippi River Mississippi River River, central U.S. It rises at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and flows south, meeting its major tributaries, the Missouri and the Ohio rivers, about halfway along its journey to the Gulf of Mexico. . The formal announcement was made at a press conference held in Memphis which included remarks by Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist Donald Kenneth Sundquist (born March 15, 1936) is an American politician from Tennessee. A Republican, he served as the 47th Governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. Prior to that, he represented Tennessee's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives , Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton, and Shelby County Mayor Jim Rout. Company officials said the Memphis location was selected over several alternative sites in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Ohio. Birmingham Steel will invest approximately $170 million to construct the new facility, which is expected to employ 225 workers. The melt shop will consist of two electric arc furnaces, a bloom caster and billet reduction mill, and a conventional billet caster. One furnace and caster will produce high quality billets for the Company's American Steel & Wire business unit. The other furnace and caster will produce billets for Birmingham Steel's rebar re·bar n. 1. A rod or bar used for reinforcement in concrete or asphalt pourings. 2. A group of such rods forming a grid. [re(inforcing) bar.] and merchant business unit. The Company said that with future modifications the new melt shop would be capable of producing two million tons per year. Start-up operations at the melt shop are expected to commence in the second calendar quarter of 1997. James A. Todd, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Birmingham Steel, commented, "The selection of Memphis as the location for the new melt shop is the result of an extensive and deliberative de·lib·er·a·tive adj. 1. Assembled or organized for deliberation or debate: a deliberative legislature. 2. Characterized by or for use in deliberation or debate. process to determine a strategically attractive and economical site for this world-class facility. The proximity of the site to our current operations in Jackson, Mississippi, and Kankakee and Joliet, Illinois, and economical access to the Cuyahoga works in Cleveland, Ohio, figured prominently in the selection of Memphis." Todd stated that, "the project generated an overwhelming amount of interest and cooperation from economic development and governmental officials representing several other locations. Each group offered competitive and attractive business and economic incentives for the project." "However," Todd continued, "the team representing Memphis, which included officials from the state of Tennessee, the city of Memphis, Shelby County, the Memphis and Shelby County Port Commission, TVA TVA: see Tennessee Valley Authority. , Memphis Light, Gas and Water Memphis Light, Gas and Water is the nation’s largest three-service municipal utility, serving more than 420,000 customers. Since 1939, MLGW has met the utility needs of Memphis and Shelby County residents by delivering reliable and affordable electricity, natural gas and , Illinois Central Railroad Illinois Central Railroad (IC) former U.S. railroad founded in 1851 that merged with the Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) in 1999. After receiving its charter in 1851, the Illinois Central Railroad built its first line from Galena to Cairo, Ill. , and the Memphis Area Chamber of Commerce, demonstrated an exceptionally strong desire to attract the project. The efforts and leadership of Governor Sundquist, Mayor Herenton and Mayor Rout were particularly encouraging and helpful. The availability of competitive electrical rates was also a major factor in our decision. "We were impressed with how well the various governmental and business groups in Memphis cooperated to create a pro- business environment and their ability to offer access to the new site on an expedient basis. Birmingham Steel is pleased to become a corporate citizen in West Tennessee, and we look forward to assisting the local community in promoting industrial growth and development in the region," Todd concluded. In his remarks, Governor Sundquist stated, "In Tennessee, we are focused on the long-term gain Long-term gain A profit on the sale of a capital assets held longer than 12 months, and eligible for long-term capital gains tax treatment. and lasting benefit of a good relationship with our corporate citizens. We believe in building mutually beneficial partnerships that will last well into the next century. I believe that this project with Birmingham Steel represents such a partnership." Todd added that the Company was in the process of soliciting proposals from various suppliers for equipment for the melt shop. "Based on our understanding of the environmental and transportation issues, we expect to complete construction by the end of the first quarter of 1997." Birmingham Steel operates steel mini-mills producing primarily steel reinforcing bar and merchant products, and also specializes in manufacturing high-quality rod and wire from semi-finished billets at its American Steel & Wire subsidiary. The common stock of Birmingham Steel Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. under the symbol "BIR BIR British Institute of Radiology BIR Bureau of Internal Revenue BIR Bureau of International Recycling BIR Baculovirus IAP Repeat BIR Biomedical Imaging Resource BIR Bureau of Intelligence and Research (US State Department) ." CONTACT: Birmingham Steel Corp., Birmingham J. Daniel Garrett, 216/429-7640 |
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