Groundbreaking for ThyssenKrupp AG's $3.7 billion steel mill to be built in southwest Alabama - the Dusseldorf-based firm's first steelmaking investment in the US - took place last Friday when bulldozers began to clear the 3,500-acre forest where the plant will be built.
Once completed, the Calvert, Alabama plant will produce 5.1 million metric tons of automotive-quality carbon and stainless flat rolled steel per year.
The Calvert plant will receive slabs from ThyssenKrupp's new plant in Brazil, which will start slab production in 2009. Production is slated to begin in Calvert in 2010.
A significant percentage of the mill's products will move through the Port of Mobile, located 30 miles downriver from the plant. As a result, the Alabama Port Authority will build a terminal in Mobile to cater for ThyssenKrupp's shipments, as part of the state's investment package.
The state's total investment package for the company is $811 million, including $461.1 million in direct financial aid for land acquisition, site preparation, worker training, and road improvements.
In May, ThyssenKrupp chose Alabama over a site in Louisiana for the location of its mill. ThyssenKrupp will join Severstal as another major foreign steelmaker with new facilities in the southern US.