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The Dripby Mark Reutter4:26 pmSep 14, 20100

Severstal confirms Brew post of Sparrows Point shutdown

Confirming yesterday’s post on this website, Severstal announced today that it will extend the shutdown of its steelmaking operations at Sparrows Point through the fourth quarter of 2010. Previously, the company indicated it would reopen the furnaces next month.

The company held open the possibility that the furnaces will be closed longer, saying the facilities “will remain idled until there is an improvement in market conditions to warrant their restart.”

The media release also confirmed that the finishing mills would operate on “reduced schedules.” Sources have told The Brew that the sprawling mills are expected to run only one – or at most two – weeks per month through December.

The release further said that tinplate production, another major Point activity, will be provided “from inventory and other Severstal North America facilities.”

Sparrows Point employs 2,500 people, 1,800 of which are members of the United Steelworkers Union. The company has not disclosed the number of people to be laid off.

The release did not respond to The Brew’s report yesterday that Severstal CEO Alexei Mordashov rejected several bids from investors to buy Sparrows Point and two other properties. Mordashov reportedly called the bids “embarrassing” because they were so far below the $810 million he paid for the Baltimore mill in 2008.

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