Cargill Inc. announced Wednesday plans to build a new steel processing center in Windsor, Colorado,? about 60 miles north of Denver, to supply the state's booming oil and gas industry.

"By locating in northern Colorado, which is in the heart of one of the largest oil shale formations in the US, Cargill can better serve and bring more value to our customers in this part of the country," said Mike Taylor, president of Cargill's steel service center, in a statement.

The new plant will be operated by Cargill Metals Supply Chain (CMSC), a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Cargill that operates eight hot-rolled steel processing centers and five distribution centers worldwide.

Construction on the $10 million, 60,000-square-foot steel processing and distribution facility will commence early this year, and production is slated to begin near the end of 2014. The plant will process hot-rolled steel coils into cut-to-length steel sheet and plate products up to a half-inch thick. The facility will also serve as a distribution center for the company's "ultra-flat RPS steel product" from Cargill's Granite City, Illinois, plant and its sheet and plate products produced at the company's Port of Catoosa plant in Oklahoma, according to the statement.