Hybar Begins Construction on $700M Rebar Mill in Osceola

(Hybar LLC)

Hybar LLC, a new rebar manufacturing company led by former Big River Steel CEO David Stickler, said Wednesday that it has started construction on its $700 million mill in northeast Arkansas.

The project, announced in November, will support the state’s growing steel industry by producing 630,000 tons of high-yielding rebar annually to be used primarily in large infrastructure projects. It’s expected to create at least 140 direct jobs that pay an average of $125,000 annually, along with 60 independent direct jobs paying $75,000 annually, the Arkansas Department of Commerce said in a news release.

The mill is being built on a 1,300-acre site in Osceola, where two miles away, Big River Steel plans to soon fire up a new a $450 million electrical steel line, and where a new $3 billion mill is being built.

Hybar, previously known as Highbar LLC, said construction is projected to last 22 months. Plans call for a Mississippi River port facility, a direct railroad connection and an adjacent solar installation.

The company said its technology is designed to significantly reduce the amount of energy needed to produce rebar, especially when compared to other decades-old rebar mills in North America. Hybar expects its greenhouse gas emissions to be the lowest among all North American steel producers, and likely the lowest in the world’s steel making community.

The state Department of Commerce said that Entergy Arkansas will supply electricity to Hybar under a special rate contract that includes renewable power generation. The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is supporting the project by providing various forms of financing to Hybar. The $700 million in financing includes a $330 million issuance of 25-year bonds.

The equity portion of the financing was led by TPG Rise Climate, the climate-focused arm of TPG’s $17 billion investing platform TPG Rise, and Stickler’s Global Principal Partners LLC.

As previously reported, the project qualified for three state incentives: the Tax Back program, which provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery; 10 years of the Create Rebate program, an annual cash rebate based on the number of jobs added by a company and targeted wages; and the Recycling Tax Credit, which allows an income tax credit for the purchase of equipment used exclusively for reduction, reuse or recycling of solid waste material for commercial purposes and the cost of installation of such equipment by outside contractors.