Esmark reveals plan for W.Va. mill

Esmark reveals plan for W.Va. mill

	Published : Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:55 By : Agencies Print this Story

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AFX) - Esmark Inc., a company aiming to buy the West Virginia assets of Mittal Steel Co., says its plan to run and expand some finishing operations would create as many as 100 jobs for a work force that has lost nearly 1,000 in the last year.

But the Independent Steelworkers Union remains undecided about who promises the best future for the remaining 1,250 workers at the former Weirton Steel Corp. Another would-be buyer is also promising to create several hundred jobs under a different operational scenario for the Northern Panhandle mill.

The union has the right to reject any change in ownership under a successorship clause in its contract. It will remain neutral for now, ISU spokesman Dave Gossett said Wednesday.

Illinois-based Esmark, a fast-growing steel distributor that seized control of nearby Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. in November, has a memorandum of understanding with Mittal to buy Weirton.

Esmark CEO James Bouchard and President Craig Bouchard told The Associated Press they would run the hot strip mill and finishing lines, add a galvanizing line and paint line, and restart the tandem mill.

Combined, that could create as many as 100 jobs, Craig Bouchard said Wednesday night.

The deal, which would have to be approved by both federal regulators and the ISU, could help Mittal resolve antitrust issues surrounding its merger with Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA.

The U.S. Department of Justice ordered Netherlands-based Mittal to try to sell Dofasco Inc. of Canada, but the Dutch trust that controls Dofasco rejected a proposal to sell it to ThyssenKrupp AG of Germany.

That leaves Mittal with the choice of selling one of its two U.S. assets in the tin-plated steel market, Weirton or Sparrow's Point in Maryland.

The Department of Justice, which has the final say, had not issued a ruling in the case as of Wednesday evening, said a spokeswoman in Washington, D.C.

'The ISU has not yet been informed as to which plant will be sold,' said union President Mark Glyptis, 'and to speculate on potential owners at this point is not needed.'

Like other would-be buyers, though, Esmark has privately laid out its vision for Weirton to the federal government.

Because it would be legally obligated to buy all the assets rather than cherry-pick what it wants, Esmark would acquire the blast furnaces once used to make raw steel, but keep them shut down. That means there is little hope of restoring the more than 800 jobs that were eliminated when Mittal idled that furnace in 2005.

The other potential buyer, former International Steel Group executive Mitch Hecht, wants to restart at least one blast furnace and rehire several hundred workers to produce pig iron and other products.

After years of deep financial losses, Weirton Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2003 and was sold twice in 18 months, first to International Steel Group, then to Mittal.

The mill's future will likely be discussed at a previously scheduled, private meeting of the union membership Tuesday in Weirton.