Steel Strip

Arcelor Mittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, said on Thursday it had agreed to sell its US Sparrows Point plant for an undisclosed amount. Arcelor Mittal said it was selling the facility to a joint venture entity sponsored by Esmark Inc. and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp., with participation by industry and institutional investors.
Arcelor Mittal, formed last year by the Mittal Steel takeover of Arcelor, was ordered to sell the mill by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) as a condition for its merger.
“We have been working with the Department of Justice for several months to satisfy the terms of the consent decree and are pleased that this process has reached its conclusion,” Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal said in a statement.
The company said the sale, which remained subject to DOJ approval, was expected to close in the fall, when Arcelor Mittal said it would disclose details.
Sparrows Point is a former Bethelehem Steel plant with an annual production capacity of 3.9 million tones of raw steel. It makes hot- and cold-rolled sheets, galvanised sheet, tin mill products and finished steel. Analysts had put the value of the mill, located near Baltimore, at up to $1 billion.