Steel Mills

Court Dates Set for US Steel Canada

October 28, 2015

US Steel has filed court documents seeking a process trial date of November 20 to request approval of repayment of $2.2 billion in debt that it claims is owed by US Steel Canada.

The court date was delayed by other restructuring issues and has been hotly contested by the USW, former Stelco president Bob Milbourne, and the provincial government.

If the debt is approved, stakeholders fear restructuring of the Canadian mill will be doomed.

Recently a court decision severed the bonds between US Steel and US Steel Canada in a transition agreement that could allow the Canadian mills to become a stand-alone company. US Steel shifted crucial production for the automotive industry to the States, leaving the US Steel Canada without automotive contracts or a sales force to pursue them.

Bids for Lake Erie and Hamilton Works were rejected as unacceptable and the sale has been put on hold until the market improves.

Stakeholders will finally get their day in court. Progress has finally been made in getting the “secret deal” between US Steel and the federal government revealed. An expedited hearing on the matter will be held on November 19.

In a decision in May, Ontario Superior Court Judge Herman Wilton-Siegal agreed that the terms of the deal would have bearing on US Steel Canada’s bankruptcy case, but he did not have power to unseal the document.