Executives of steel maker Nucor Corp. have dropped their plan to build a rebar micro mill in the Pacific Northwest because they think some of the company’s other recent investments have given them enough capacity to supply clients in the Western United States.

The Nucor team spent nearly $3.2 billion on capital projects last year—which was some 50% more than in 2023—and is on pace to slightly top that figure this year. The Utah melt shop Topalian referred to while addressing the changed Pacific Northwest plan is one of the results of that investment push. Another is a rebar micro mill in Lexington, North Carolina, that was commissioned last quarter.

Separately, Nucor also has been building plants in Alabama and Indiana for its towers and structures group and investing in sheet coating facilities in Indiana and South Carolina.

In the three months that ended Sept. 30, Nucor produced a net profit of $683 million, more than double the amount from the same period of 2024, on revenues of more than $8.5 billion. The company’s steel mills grew their operating income to $793 million from $309 million while operating profits at its steel products division ticked up to $319 million. External shipments totaled about 6.8 million tons and Nucor’s mill backlogs rose 30% from a year earlier to about 3.5 million tons.

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