In a 1972 speech to the Phoenix Society of Financial Analysts, Ken Iverson said, “The single most important event in shaping the future of the company has been the construction of [the Darlington] steel mill. This is no ordinary mill.  It has been described as a forerunner of a new generation of mini mills.”

And how right he was! As Nuclear Corporation’s Vulcraft divisions grew more successful, Ken—a trained metallurgist—saw an opportunity to increase profitability through vertical integration by producing the company’s own steel.

By 1966, Nuclear Corporation had two divisions that manufactured steel joist—in Florence, South Carolina, and Norfolk, Nebraska—that together consumed 60,000 tons of angles and rounds each year.

The initial proposal, which was handwritten by Sam Siegel, called for a mill producing 42,000 tons of angles and rounds per year. By the time Ken asked the board in August 1966 to approve construction of an electric arc furnace steel mill, the proposed capacity had grown to 60,000 tons annually. The new facility, a mini mill, would be smaller and less costly than an integrated mill.

The board approved the $3,667,500 capital request, and construction was completed in 1969. Located in Darlington, South Carolina, just 16 miles from the Vulcraft division in Florence, the mill originally operated as Eastern Carolina Steel. In late 1970, Nucor invested another $2 million to double capacity to 120,000 tons per year.

In a 1969 letter to Fred Rhoads (the artist who created the Yippee! Man) Ken wrote, “I know the backbone of the South has been the textile industry, but we are hopeful of putting a little steel into the South’s spine.”