Commercial Metals Company (CMC) announced this week that it has closed $21 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from National New Markets Fund, LLC that will enable the steel producer to build an environmentally-sustainable steel manufacturing facility in the rural south Oklahoma community of Durant (80 miles north of Dallas).
When completed in late 2017, the state-of-the-art micro-mill will utilize an uninterrupted production line process called "continuous-continuous" powered by a highly efficient electric arc furnace (EAF). The result will be a uniquely clean and green steel mill capable of producing 380,000 tons of rebar from recycled pre and post-consumer scrap.
In 2009, the company commissioned the world's first micro mill in Mesa, Arizona, and many of the green technologies and best practices developed at that facility will be integrated into the new Durant mill, which will support 300 high-wage jobs in a severely distressed census tract with a 13.1 percent unemployment rate.
It is anticipated that the new micro mill facility will reduce CO2 emissions by at least 58 percent compared to a traditional iron ore based steel plant. Gases produced in the steelmaking process will be used to pre heat scrap, which in turn will reduce electricity consumption. The mill will also employ advanced air filtering and recycling technology to enhance recovery and reuse of common steelmaking by-products. In addition, water used in the steelmaking process will be recycled to reduce discharge.
The $21 million in NMTC allocation from National New Markets Fund will partially finance the purchase of equipment for the new facility. Additional funding partners include Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma, Inc., Midwest Renewable Capital and US Bank.