Steel Mills

Stelco Purchase Estimated at $500 Million
Written by Sandy Williams
June 15, 2017
Bedrock Industries received a deal on the purchase of Canada’s Stelco, acquiring it for less than $500 million, according to a report by the Hamilton Spectator.
U.S. Steel originally purchased what was then a much larger Stelco for $1.1 billion in 2007. The many transactions required to satisfy creditors, pension payouts, retiree benefits, taxes and other payments make it difficult to gauge the exact price Bedrock paid for the mill. Among the payments that Bedrock will make is a payment of $130 million to former owner US Steel.
Stelco has $300 million in cash that will help offset the price but, most notable for its buyer, the company will emerge from creditor protection debt free. Stelco is scheduled to leave the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act on June 30 under the ownership of Bedrock Industries.
A unique plan was put in place to secure the deal with Bedrock. A land trust, formed by the province, will lease one-third of the 818 acres of Stelco land back to the company, and the rest will be leased or sold to provide financing for pensions and benefits for Stelco retirees. Bedrock will be released from further environmental liability after paying $80 million to help remediate the land.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills

SSAB announces $74M expansion in Alabama
The project will expand heat treat capacity at its Axis, Alabama plant

ArcelorMittal’s EAF in Alabama expects first heat in Q2
The facility at AMNS Calvert will be the first EAF in North America capable of supplying exposed automotive grades with domestically melted and poured material.

Nucor’s Topalian lauds Trump’s trade policies, downplays impact
Nucor’s top exec Leon Topalian said the benefit of the current administration’s aggressive trade policies “trumps” any risk of potentially higher raw materials prices.

SSAB reports higher production, shipments
But profits slipped vs. last year.

Nucor earnings slump in first quarter, but better times seen ahead
Nucor’s profits fell precipitously in the first quarter, but the company has a rosier outlook for the following quarter.