Arkansas makes bid to land EAF mill

State lawmakers in Arkansas have passed a bill that will provide an income tax credit to projects in the state that use waste reduction, reuse or recycling equipment. Arkansas Sen. David Wallace filed SB10 Dec. 7.

According to the bill, recycling tax credits included in the bill would cost the state an average of $11 million a year for 14 years and $8.8 million a year if the state buys back the tax credits at a 20 percent discount.

According to a report from KATV ABC 7, Little Rock, Arkansas, on the legislation, Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel is considering Arkansas for a $3 billion expansion project in Mississippi County, Arkansas.

The bill states, “Arkansas is one of the leading producers of steel in the United States, and Mississippi County, Arkansas, is ranked as one of the highest steel-producing counties in the United States. The steel industry in the United States is highly competitive, and there are presently rising prices and a high level of demand for raw materials in the domestic market."

The bill continues, “In order to continue to attract well-paying manufacturing jobs to the state of Arkansas and encourage continuing capital investment by steel producers in this state, adjustments in the recycling tax credit are appropriate to allow the recycling tax credit to be utilized more fully to accomplish the purpose for which the recycling tax credit is intended.”

After passing in both the state House and Senate, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed SB10 into law Dec. 9.

The bill provides an income tax credit for 30 percent of the purchase price of waste reduction, reuse or recycling equipment for a qualified steel manufacturer. To qualify for the tax credit, projects will need to have common ownership and be located on the site of or adjacent to an existing manufacturer of steel, have a total investment of at least $2 billion, create 700 new positions with average annual wages of $120,000 and create 200 independent direct positions with average annual wages of $60,000.

Arkansas serves as the home to Big River Steel, an EAF producer now owned by U.S. Steel. North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. also has high tonnage EAF mills in Arkansas.

The same article quotes an Arkansas state senator as saying “bringing in these big steel mills” has added to the prosperity of northeast Arkansas. KATV also reports the states of Alabama and Mississippi as neighbors who likewise are presenting incentives to U.S. Steel.