On the Line: Nucor, North America's largest steel producer and recycler, has a mill and an academy in Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Alabama News Center

Published On: 11.05.24 |

By: Joey Blackwell

Nucor is both the largest steel producer in the United States and the largest steel recycler in North America. (contributed)

Alabama News Center is continuing its video series titled “On the Line” focusing on manufacturers across the state that design and create products that people use in their everyday lives. In this episode, we head to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to look at Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa Inc. and the products it manufactures.

Nucor is one of the country’s most diversified and sustainable steel and steel products companies. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is both the largest steel producer in the U.S. and the largest steel recycler in North America. In 2023, the company produced and sold approximately 18.5 million tons of steel while recycling 18.4 million tons of scrap.

“We receive raw materials, scrap steel and other alloys that we use along with electricity we get from Alabama Power to melt that stuff down and create slabs of steel,” said Daniel Yu, engineering supervisor at Nucor’s Tuscaloosa mill. “All the scrap steel that we receive has either come from old buildings, maybe it’s compacted cars, turnings from machine shops — I mean, it could be a wide variety of things that get melted down and ultimately that get rolled into plates.”

Check out the latest “On the Line” video, with this episode focusing on Nucor and its career opportunities.

Nucor’s steel can either be sold as coils of plate product or can be chopped up into individual lengths that the customer wants and then shipped out directly. The steel is then used in a variety of products.

“Circular steelmaking is a way of making steel that’s better for the environment, and we take all the scrap that we get in that process, and it goes back into scrap, so it just kind of repeats itself,” said Desmond Hill, an inside sales rep at Nucor. “A lot of our steel plate goes into power poles [and] all the rail cars you see. We also do some work in bridges and tanks — a lot of our steel goes into those products as well.”

Nucor provides a wide variety of career opportunities for many from an assortment of backgrounds. The Nucor Technical Academy pays for the associate’s degrees of approved applicants while also paying for on-the-job training. Tuscaloosa’s mill is partnered with Shelton State Community College, giving the students not just an opportunity to learn in the program, but to have their education paid for and a job after graduation.

“Being hands-on in how we’re doing it — going back and forth between school and work — definitely gives us the chance to apply what we’re learning in school rather than just going to school and then getting a job after school trying to apply it then,” said Keifer Carmean, a student at Nucor Technical Academy.

Jobs at Nucor range from engineering to manufacturing and production, sales, business and support in addition to internships. The company is dedicated to not only educating and providing jobs for its students in the technical academy, but also providing a great work atmosphere and benefits to its employees.

“Nucor is an excellent place to work. It’s very team- and family-oriented. A lot of care between teammates. I couldn’t ask for a better place to work,” said Lane Tyner, who works as an academy supervisor for Nucor in Tuscaloosa. “The Nucor Technical Academy is really a unique program and, to my knowledge, there’s not another program like it anywhere.”

Nucor is both the largest steel producer in the U.S. and the largest steel recycler in North America. In 2023, the company produced and sold approximately 18.5 million tons of steel while recycling 18.4 million tons of scrap. (contributed)