Local and state leaders traded in their usual golden scissors and red ribbon for chainsaws and southern yellow pine logs Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the opening of Steel Dynamics’ new biocarbon facility off Artesia Road.
Mark Millett, co-founder and CEO of the Indiana-based company, said the facility will increase sustainability in the steel production process by using organic waste from wood alternatives to coal and coke to fuel SDI steel mills.
“We as a company … are leading decarbonisation in our industry,” Millett said. “Every steel company, you read their annual report and they say, ‘We’re going to be carbon neutral in 2030.’ … The small print says something like, ‘If the technology gets invented.’ Well, that technology is right behind me. … Biocarbon is going to leapfrog us into the future.”
The SDI Biocarbon Solutions facility, which sits on about 90 acres on Manufacturers Drive, will chemically break down organic waste, such as sawdust and thinnings from forests and timber mills, to produce roughly 200,000 tons of biocarbon products annually. That fuel will then be used to fuel SDI’s existing steel mill in Columbus, as well as its mill in Butler, Indiana.
The steel mill, opened in 2014 in Columbus, ships roughly 3.1 million tons of coil steel annually to automotive manufacturing plants, as well as pipeline and construction material manufacturers.
The biocarbon facility is a joint venture between SDI and Michigan-based Aymium, a biocarbon production company. The facility will create nearly 100 jobs by the end of 2026 with average salaries ranging between $110,000 and $120,000, though Gov. Tate Reeves told attendees the facility will likely benefit far more than just future employees at the facility.
“When you look at a facility like this, you are reminded that so many people in Mississippi own land, and on those lands they have trees,” Reeves said. “In many instances, they don’t have a lot, but what they do have is in those trees, and the ability to get those to market really, really matters to Mississippians all over this region.”
The facility was originally scheduled to open in November, though a flash fire, caused by a spark created while contract workers were vacuuming carbon dust, delayed its unveiling and injured two employees.
Millett said he believed both injured workers were in recovery from the incident, and the company has taken precautions to mitigate any future incidents.
“To describe what we did to fix it is a little complicated … but we have mitigated it, and from a damage standpoint … that’s immaterial, whether it’s $1 (or) $1 million,” Millett told The Dispatch following the unveiling. “… If you look at the overall safety record for this facility throughout its construction, … the safety record of Aluminum Dynamics and the steel mill, it’s exemplary, but we don’t like anyone getting hurt.”
The facility represents a $300 million investment, a portion of which was funded by a $246 million financial assistance package approved by legislators during a 2022 special session. Those funds were split between the biocarbon facility’s construction, as well as the Aluminum Dynamics mill, which shipped its first products in August.
Following the ceremony, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said he was thankful to see continued investment in the Golden Triangle.
“This has been a long time in the making, and I think this is where we see the fruits of our labor when it comes to that,” he told The Dispatch. “… This is (one) of those things that other communities can celebrate every so often, but it seems like we’ve been doing this a lot. Having a visit from the governor to one of these ribbon cuttings seems like, for a lot of communities, it doesn’t happen that very often, and here, we’ve gotten used to it.”
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