Esmark Steel Declines to Reopen Yorkville Steel Mill

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--For more than a year, Esmark Steel Group (Sewickley, Pennsylvania), which specializes in flat-rolled and special bar-quality (SBQ) steel, had been considering a restart of its Yorkville Steel Mill. Just a few weeks after a proposal for a $16 million restart was under discussion, Esmark Steel announced that it will not reopen the mill. Industrial Info has been tracking the restart project since Esmark purchased the steel plant in 2012.

In October 2012, Esmark was progressing rapidly with a joint business effort that included restarting the cold rolling mill in Yorkville and using the product to supply the nearby Yorkville electrolytic tin-plated steel plant, which is owned by the Esmark Steel Group and operated by Ohio Coatings Company. Hopes were high among state officials who had been following the project, as well as local residents who anticipated new jobs.

In January 2013, a statement was released that the restart was being delayed because of the economy and the "fiscal cliff" negotiations in Washington, D.C. The company had expected the plant to reopen early in 2013, but decided to wait for a more stable market. For more information, see March 11, 2013, article - Small Staff Maintains Esmark Steel Group's Yorkville Plant as Reopening Delayed.

The only employees currently on site are members of a fire watch crew.

General economic conditions have been cited as a contributing factor in this latest decision. While Esmark maintains that it has no operational plans at present, or even in the foreseeable future, statements indicate that there still might be light at the end of this long tunnel.

Yorkville has remained idle since being shut down in May 2012 by RG Steel's bankruptcy. For more information, see June 1, 2012, article - RG Steel Files Bankruptcy Protection Amid Improving Steel Capacity Utilization. In turn, the Esmark Steel Group purchased the mill more than a year ago in a federal bankruptcy court.

The Esmark Steel Group owns six additional facilities in the U.S., some of which operate under subsidiaries: University Park Steel Coil Slitting (University Park, Illinois); Valley City Steel Coil Slitting (Valley City, Ohio); Chicago Heights Rolled Steel Sheets & Bars (Chicago Heights, Illinois); Chicago Heights Carbon Flat Rolled Coils (Chicago Heights); Saint Louis Flat Rolled Steel Processing, (Saint Louis, Missouri), operated by US Metals & Supply Incorporated; and Yorkville Electrolytic Tin Plated Steel (Yorkville, Ohio), operated by Ohio Coatings Company.

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