Koch Industries Inc. subsidiary Koch Minerals & Trading LLC of Wichita, Kansas, on Thursday revealed that it participated in debt and equity financing for Hybar LLC’s new $700 million steel rebar mill in Osceola.
Under the partnership, another Koch subsidiary, Koch Metallics, will provide metallics procurement services to Hybar and risk management services to Hybar customers, the company said in a news release.
It’s not the first time that Koch’s trading, logistics and investment firm has financially backed a project led by Hybar CEO David Stickler. The company was also an investor in Big River Steel, which was led by Stickler before it was acquired by U.S. Steel.
“We’re excited to support Hybar in bringing this transformational scrap metal recycling facility to market,” Vance Holtzman, senior vice president of Kock Minerals & Trading Investments, said in the release. “Moving forward, we see this as a mutually beneficial partnership, matching KM&T’s capabilities with the Hybar and TPG teams’ proven track record in developing innovative projects that meet market needs.”
The mill will support the state’s growing steel industry by producing 630,000 tons of high-yielding rebar annually. It’s expected to create at least 140 direct jobs.
Construction on the project began this month and is expected to last 22 months. Plans call for a Mississippi River port facility, a direct railroad connection and an adjacent solar installation.
Other investors include TPG Rise Climate, the climate-focused arm of TPG’s $17 billion investing platform TPG Rise, and Stickler’s Global Principal Partners LLC.
“We’re proud to have the backing of Koch Minerals & Trading as part of a group of investors that see the potential promise of our innovative scrap metal recycling steel rebar technology,” Stickler said.
As Koch Minerals & Trading takes a new position in the state’s growing steel industry, the firm and other Koch entities have become key players in the south Arkansas lithium rush.
Koch Strategic Platforms in 2021 made a $100 million direct investment in Standard Lithium Ltd., the Canadian company with lithium extraction facilities in El Dorado. In 2022, Koch Minerals & Trading reached a chemical off-take agreement with Standard. Koch later reinforced its bet on Standard when the company awarded engineering and feasibility assessment contracts to Koch-owned OPD LLC of Katy, Texas.
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