Sale May Be Close for Galvpro Steel Galvanizing Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Galvpro LP, a joint venture between Weirton Steel Corporation (Weirton, West Virginia) and Corus Group (NYSE:CGA) (London, England), may be close to solidifying a buyer for its steel galvanizing plant located in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Company officials are keeping tight lipped regarding the sale of the plant due to a confidentiality agreement with the prospective buyer, but they did say that something could happen in the next couple of months.

Currently there are only two employees at the plant. The steel galvanizing lines are started up twice a month in order to make sure all systems are working properly. Once the sale of the plant is finalized some work will be required to bring the plant back online, including work on the plant's furnaces.

Strategically located in the Clark Maritime Center, the plant has excellent land and water distribution capabilities. It was constructed at a cost of $63 million, and has an annual capacity of 400,000 tons of hot dip galvanized thin steel sheet. Operations began in late 1999. It stayed operational for only 15 months and was idled in March of 2001 due to poor market conditions and the ails of its partial owner Weirton Steel. Weirton Steel has avoided filing for bankruptcy, as many other integrated steel firms have not been able to do, with a series of cost cutting measures and restructuring over the last two years. The company is hoping that an improving steel market will pull it out of negative margins by the end of the year.