Nucor's Mighty Prospects during the Current Steel Industry Slowdown (Continued from Prior Part) Nucor’s Louisiana DRI plant Direct iron ore reduction—a process whose byproduct is DRI (direct-reduced iron), also known as sponge iron—is an alternate method for making steel. Last year, Nucor Corporation (NUE), the largest steel company in the US, commenced production at its DRI plant in Louisiana, one of the largest plants in the world, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons. DRI provides a low-cost environment and, thus, operational flexibility to Nucor, enabling the company to use iron ore as an input, without the large capital expenditures of setting up a blast... More