Steel Mills
Severstal No Longer Shipping to US, Ending Long Domestic Presence
Written by Michael Cowden
June 6, 2022
Severstal is no longer shipping “anything” to the United States, a company spokeswoman said.
The Russian steelmaker instead intends to “continue working with our partners who are not tied with obligations to US,” she said in an email to Steel Market Update.
The comments come after the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on June 2 imposed sanctions on Severstal as well as on Alexei Mordashov, its chairman and main shareholder.
The US move followed the EU sanctioning Severstal and Mordashov in March in response to Russian forces launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Severstal at the time said it would redirect tons to other markets.
Severstal’s departure from the US steel scene is notable because the company was a household name within the industry in the 2000s and early 2010s.
The steelmaker, in partnership with the late John Correnti, built an electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Columbus, Miss., that began operating in 2007. It was at the time the newest, most advanced mill of its kind in the US.
Severstal in addition operated an integrated mill in Dearborn, Mich., also the headquarters of its former US subsidiary, Severstal North America.
Severstal NA’s Columbus EAF mill was sold to Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) and its integrated mill in Dearborn to the former AK Steel. That deal, worth $2.33 billion, was announced in July 2014.
SDI continues to operate the Columbus mill. The Dearborn mill is now part of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., which acquired the facility with its 2020 acquisition of AK.
Russian steelmakers have traditionally been important suppliers to the US not only of finished products such as sheet and tubulars but also of semi-finished slabs and pig iron. Severstal had maintained a limited presence in the United States even after it sold its mills here via its trading operations.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills
CRU: Interest in AHMSA is growing
Representatives of at least six companies interested in acquiring AHMSA have reportedly begun to carry out physical inspections of the insolvent company’s assets.
USW urges Algoma to diversify product line as $500M lifeline meets wider Q3 losses
The United Steelworkers (USW) is pushing for transparency after Algoma Steel announced earlier this week that it has received CA$500 million in financing from the Canadian government.
Oregon Steel Mills lifts plate prices by $60/ton
Oregon Steel Mills has joined other producers in announcing a price increase of at least $60 per short ton on steel plate.
Algoma speeds up EAF transition, shifts focus to supplying mostly plate to Canadian market
Upended by the Trump regime's tornado of tariffs, Algoma Steel is pivoting on its cross-border business model, shifting its focus to supplying the Canadian market.
White House confirms use of ‘golden share’ to intervene at Granite City: Report
The White House confirmed it stepped in to block the halting of steel processing at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works in Illinois, according to media reports.