Nucor, Mitsui launch steel processing joint venture

Nucor to acquire half of Mitsui’s U.S. Steel Unit. Nucor Corp., the largest U.S. steelmaker by 2009 sales, will buy half of a U.S. unit of Japan’s Mitsui & Co. to jointly expand in the global market for the metal used in appliances, autos and construction. Through the creation of a joint venture called NuMit LLC, Nucor will acquire half of Mitsui’s Louisville, Kentucky-based Steel Technologies Inc. unit, Mitsui said today in a statement. The unit operates 23 steel processing facilities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Mitsui, based in Tokyo, acquired Steel Technologies for about $534 million, including debt, in June 2007. The stake in the Mitsui unit was the second acquisition for Nucor Chief Executive Officer Dan DiMicco this week, following the purchase of Ocala Recycling LLC on March 1 for undisclosed terms. The venture with Mitsui is “the single best piece of strategic news” for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor in two years, said Michelle Applebaum, who runs a steel-research firm in Highland Park, Illinois. “This is a very meaningful acquisition for the company, although we don’t anticipate much accretion initially,” Applebaum wrote in a report today. “It’s a whole new platform for growth for Nucor.” The joint venture will assume responsibility for Nucor’s previously announced plan to open a new flat-rolled processing center in Monterrey, Mexico, Mitsui said in the statement. Nucor’s DiMicco today declined to comment on the Mitsui venture.