Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) is an American

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

producer based in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. With a production capacity of 13 million tons of steel, the company is the third largest producer of carbon steel products in the United States. It is among the most profitable American steel companies in terms of

profit margin Profit margin is a financial ratio that measures the percentage of profit earned by a company in relation to its revenue. Expressed as a percentage, it indicates how much profit the company makes for every dollar of revenue generated. Profit margi ...

s and

operating margin In business, operating margin—also known as operating income margin, operating profit margin, EBIT margin and return on sales (ROS)—is the ratio of operating income ("operating profit" in the UK) to net sales, usually expressed in percent. ...

per ton. Based on its 2021 revenue, the company ranked 196th on the 2022 edition of the

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

History

Steel Dynamics was founded in 1993 by three former executives of

Nucor Nucor Corporation is an American company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that produces steel and related products. It is the largest steel producer in the United States and the largest recycler of scrap in North America. Nucor is the 16th- ...

with $370 million in funding. It began production at its $275 million Butler, Indiana, flat roll mill in 1996 and reported its first annual profit in 1997. During the

early 2000s recession The early 2000s recession was a major decline in economic activity which mainly occurred in developed countries. The recession affected the European Union during 2000 and 2001 and the United States from March to November 2001. The United King ...

, the company offered many incentive programs for employees to cut costs and improve standards and outperformed most other steel manufacturers. In 2007, the company acquired The Techs, three

hot-dip galvanization Hot-dip galvanization is a form of galvanization. It is the process of coating iron and steel with zinc, which alloys with the surface of the base metal when immersing the metal in a bath of molten zinc at a temperature of around . When expo ...

plants in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

that coat flat-rolled steel, and OmniSource Corporation, a scrap metal processor and trader. In 2014, the company acquired Severstal Columbus for $1.625 billion. The acquisition increased the company's production capacity to 11 million tons. In 2016, the company acquired Vulcan Threaded Products for $126 million. In 2016, the company began construction of a $100 million facility in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

. In 2017, the company began a $28 million expansion of its Roanoke Bar Division. In 2017, the company began a $75 million expansion of its Structural and Rail Division. In 2018, the company acquired the former Kentucky Electric Steel plant in Coalton, Kentucky. in 2020, production for the Sinton,TX facility commenced. It is a 2,400-acre complex which is supposed to also house several other businesses who work with SDI in other cities. 3,000 jobs should be created when complete.

Controversies

Clean Air Act violation settlement

In 2021, the company agreed to pay $475,000 in civil penalties and spend $3 million to upgrade

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

control equipment to reduce air emissions at its facilities in Butler, Indiana. Following on-site inspections, the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

accused Steel Dynamics of violating the Clean Air Act of 1963.

Price-fixing allegations

The company was accused in a lawsuit of participating in a

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

with other steel manufacturers to restrict steel production in 2008. In October 2016, the company settled the case, agreeing to pay $4.6 million.

References

External links

* {{authority control, state=expanded Steel companies of the United States Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies established in 1993 Companies based in Fort Wayne, Indiana 1996 initial public offerings