F. Kenneth Iverson, who died Sunday at the age of 76, brought steel mini-mill electric arc furnace (EAF) technology to North America, and never looked back as he helped Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C., push that technology into broader segments of the steel industry.
Under Iverson, Nucor built several EAF steel mills, often introducing new technology to North America (such as thin slab casting) that lowered costs and boosted productivity and made the American steel industry newly competitive with that of global rivals.
Although the company Iverson built was always confident and tenacious in its ability to take on competitors, Iverson also made sure Nucor’s management never became enamored of the trappings of overwhelming perks and bonuses.
As described by Stella M. Hopkins of the Charlotte Observer, Iverson “was a corporate CEO who answered his own phone, flew coach class, never had an executive parking spot and ran a multi-billion dollar company from a nondescript building with about 30 people. He printed every employee’s name on the annual report and excluded top executives from the top perks—including up to $10,000 for college for every child of every worker.”
Iverson assumed leadership of Nuclear Corp. of America in 1965. At that time, the company made fabricated steel joists and decking, but did not make raw steel. Shortly after Iverson became the company’s president, he chose to focus on making steel from scrap in EAF furnaces, and within a few years changed the company’s name to Nucor Corp.
The company’s first EAF mill opened in Darlington, S.C., in 1969. The profitability of that mill led to the construction of several others, including a large-tonnage mill in Crawfordsville, Ind., that featured innovative thin slab casting technology. The company also built mills that could make a greater variety of steel products, including steel sheet, which had previously been considered the domain of larger, integrated steel plants.
Today, Nucor Corp. is a $4 billion company with more than 8,000 employees working at 10 steel mills and several other facilities located throughout the U.S.
The EAF steelmaking industry in the U.S. has boomed beyond Nucor’s presence, with the emergence of several competing mini-mill companies in the 1980s and 1990s. Some of these companies, such as Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Butler, Ind., were founded or led by former Nucor managers. SDI is led by Keith Busse, who once headed operations at Nucor’s Crawfordsville mill.
Current Nucor CEO Daniel R. DiMicco says Iverson’s vision of scrap metal fueling a revitalized American steel industry remains important. “All of us at Nucor are a product of his vision,” he remarks. “The best thing we can do is continue following that vision.”Latest from Recycling Today
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