Severstal North America is celebrating the Grand Opening of its $550 million Phase II expansion in Columbus, Miss. The expansion at Severstal Columbus has doubled steelmaking capacity to an annual steel production of 3.4 million tons (3.1 million metric tons). The company press release said the project “included a second electric arc furnace, ladle metallurgy furnace, caster, tunnel furnace, and hot-dip galvanizing line. A wide heavy gauge push pull pickle line was also included in the Phase II project.”

The company held a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by Alexey Mordashov, CEO of OAO Severstal and Sergei Kuznetsov, CEO of Severstal North America. The Governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, and Delbert Hosemann, Mississippi Secretary of State attended while guests were given tours of the new mill.

“I appreciate Severstal’s commitment to Mississippi and the creation of 150 additional jobs with the Phase II expansion,” Bryant said. “Mississippi’s skilled talent and business-friendly environment prove that we have the environment and workforce that can sustain long-term growth.” The facility is employing over 650 employees at Severstal Columbus.

The company states that Severstal Columbus now has the “most advanced electric arc furnace facility in the world.” Phase 1 of this project was already completed in 2007, with $880 million spent on the mini-mill.

“The addition of Phase 2 allows us to increase sales to the market sectors where we were not actively present. We gained broad capabilities in heavy gauge pickled and galvanized products which we are now able to offer to the customers in both master coil and sheets or slit-to-customer order. The launch demonstrates Severstal’s faith in U.S. economy and our commitment to domestic manufacturing, our customers, employees and communities,” Kuznetsov noted.

Source: Severstal North America