SteelCorr searches for location.

SteelCorr LLC, a company that was created several years ago to build and operate a steel minimill, has taking tentative steps toward building a facility in the South. The company has looked at locations in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi. The facility, if built, would have an annual capacity of nearly 1.7 million tons of hot rolled and cold rolled steel.

While the company has received an air permit from Arkansas, a more likely location for the proposed project may be Lowndes County, Miss.

Mississippi has put together a financial package, including $25 million in grant money and a loan of $10 million, to help with construction expenses.

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) held a public hearing March 29 for comments and to decide whether to issue a Construction Prevention of Significant Deterioration and an Operating Permit. If SteelCorr receives these, it would have to break ground on the project within 18 months.

The company also is seeking to complete a financing package for the project, estimated to cost $650 million.

Jerry Cain, Mississippi DEQ Environmental Permitting Division chief, says that if the company can get financing in place, it likely will build in Mississippi.

The U.S. Labor Department issued a notice about the loan with the Federal Register in late March, seeking comments on the $25 million package, which is slated to come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency (RDA).

The Labor Department and the RDA are expected to make a decision on the loan package by the first half of April.