... make steel from scratch - using iron ore from the ground. Minimills are cheaper to build and operate than the integrated mills. They use electric arc furnaces to melt and recast steel scrap. At first, they were capable of producing only the crudest steel products. But, as technology improved, they steadily expanded their range of products so that they now can make all but the highest quality sheet steel. Nucor, the king of the minimills, veered away from the path taken by traditional plants in other crucial ways. While companies like Bethlehem Steel and LTV Corp. set up shop in or near northern industrial cities like Cleveland and Chicago, Nucor has favored remote, rural locations scattered across the South and Midwest. Traditional steel plants are hierarchical and centralized, with sharply drawn lines between workers and management. Nucor is more egalitarian, less bureaucratic and deliberately decentralized. Unlike the more traditional plants, ...

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