Will take a few years to complete $1.3 billion plant

GREENUP, Ky. — Braidy Industries will have a groundbreaking on its rolling mill aluminum plant on June 1.

But it will be a few years before the company is cranking out aluminum products for the global market.

“The mill will not magically appear over night,” Braidy Industries CEO and Chairman Craig Bouchard wrote in a Facebook message over the weekend.

The new, $1.3 billion plant is going to be built in the EastPark Industrial Center, off of the Industrial Parkway near the interchange with U.S. 64.

The site chosen because it offers easy access to U.S. 64 and U.S. 23 and railroad access in Wurtland.

The plant is the first aluminum rolling mill built in over 30 years on greenfield land. The site was once a coal mining land that has been reclaimed for new industries.

Bouchard said in a Facebook posting that it will take a few years to be completed.

“The land must now be moved, compressed and prepared to support very large machines. The largest weighs more than 200 tons,” he wrote. “This compression will take a few months.”

He added the company had already spent $14 million in engineering and preparation for the build.

“The secret to successful greenfield construction is impeccable planning. We are very good planners,” Bouchard wrote.

After the ground is compressed, they will drill into the bedrock. After that process is completed, they will begin construction.

When the factory is completed, 45 acres will be “under roof with a half billion dollars of brand new equipment inside,” Bouchard wrote.

Bouchard has said the company would employ around 1,000 individuals in the construction of the site and around 550 full-time employees after completion, with an average salary of around $75,000 per year.

The plant will produce milled aluminum for use in the automotive, airline, and defense industries. The company hopes to begin construction in the first quarter of next year.

The company says it will be able to produce and offer a broad array of aluminum roll and sheet, including 200,000 tons of series 6000 auto body sheet, 100,000 tons of series 5000 sheet and 70,000 tons of series 7000 aerospace plate annually.