Steel Mills

Warren Steel Mill Coming Down
Written by Sandy Williams
September 15, 2013
Attempts to save the Warren steel mill connected with the former RG Steel have finally come to an end. BDM Warren Steel Operations filed a permit application to demolish the mill that was shut down in May 2012 said Howland Township Administrator Darlene St. George.
The mill was purchased by BDM in August 2012 and the new owners tried unsuccessfully to find a buyer to restart the mill. Hilco Trading purchased the mill assets in May 2013 with the stipulation to market the mill for three months before razing the facilities. With the deadline past and no potential buyers, the demolition equipment moved in.
The seven buildings of the cold-rolling mill will be torn down and a two-year timeline to demolish the hot mill has been determined. Dismantling of the cold rolled site began on Thursday.
It is estimated that relining and restarting the blast furnace would have cost any potential buyer $100 million.
History of the Warren, Ohio Steel Mill
The mill began making steel in 1902 as Republic Steel Corporation. It was then purchased by Jones & Laughlin Steel Company (J&L) which subsequently became LTV Steel. LTV declared bankruptcy in the late 1980’s and the company was reorganized as WCI Steel and was purchased by the Renco Group. WCI filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and the mill was sold to Severstal in 2008. In 2010, Severstal sold the mill to RG Steel (owned by the Renco Group) and in May 2012 the company went bankrupt. BDM purchased the company out of bankruptcy in August 2012.
According to AIST statistics the Warren steel mill fully integrated steel operations with its one blast furnace and one BOF had the ability to produce 2.04 million tons of steel annually. The mill also had a 56” wide hot strip mill and a 54” wide cold mill. The 300,000 tons per year galvanizing facility had been shuttered for a number of years prior to the final bankruptcy. (History source: Hilco Trading & AIST)

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

BREAKING NEWS: Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on ‘insufficient demand and pricing’
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.

CRU: Usiminas may reduce capex unless government strengthens protection
“The lack of effective measures to create fair competition, amid a surge in subsidized imports, is the main threat to the sustainability of Brazil’s steel industry and its value chain,” CEO Marcelo Chara said.

USS swings to loss in first quarter on N. American flat-rolled segment woes
U.S. Steel CEO praised the company’s resilience, “despite the seasonally low results driven by annual mining logistics constraints in our North American Flat-Rolled segment and lagging spot prices.”

Nucor gives updates on new capacity coming online
Nucor said several of its capital projects will start operations within the next year and provided an update on them.

Algoma swings to loss on ‘market challenges’ and ‘tariff uncertainties’
Canada’s Algoma Steel swung to a loss in the first quarter amid "market challenges," and the company now expects first steel production from its first EAF in the second quarter.