Heavy Rains in Texas Delay Plans To Boost Production At Hinton Steel Plant

The production ramp-up at Steel Dynamics Inc's (SDI) planned $1.9 billion Sinton, Texas, flat-rolled mill has been pushed back due to heavy flooding in the state.

SDI detailed the delay in its second-quarter earnings statement.

"Due to the excessive heavy rains in Texas, actual steel production will be delayed and is now planned to start mid-fourth quarter 2021," says CEO Mark Millett.

Sinton's shipments are expected to be around 100,000 short tons in 2021, rising to 2.2-2.4m st in 2022. When it's fully up-and-running - with its companion four $450-500m galvanizing lines-the plant will contribute $475-525m to the company's annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.

One flat-rolled buyer points to the delay as a possible trigger for another run in hot-rolled pricing. Momentum appears to have paused around the $1,800/st point, but many buy-side sources believe mills will shoot for a list price of $2,000/st by year-end.

Millett ended his statement on capital investments by touching on sustainability, though he did not directly link the catastrophic Texas flooding with the company's environmental goals.

"We recently announced greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals, including a goal for our steel mills to be carbon neutral by 2050,"he says, echoing commitments made by other North American steelmakers and global governments. "We are starting from a position of strength yet plan to do more."

Short comments: Recently, China's Zhejiang province also ushered in a strong typhoon, resulting in many places of waterlogging, even debris flow, in the humid environment, we will do more protection of galvanized products, will continue to improve the quality of galvanized, to ensure the practicality of products.