ISG Expands in Cleveland

International Steel Group Inc. (ISG), Richfield, Ohio, has announced that it will re-start a blast furnace and a steel caster in Cleveland that have been idle since the summer of 2001. The company cites expected continued strong demand for steel as its reason to re-start the production facilities and re-hire some 140 Cleveland workers.

The furnace and caster are located near existing ISG production lines, and are part of the former LTV steelmaking complex in Cleveland.

According to a report in the Plain Dealer of Cleveland, ISG will invest some $10 million to restart the idled equipment, which will produce steel slabs. Production may start as soon as May, with the caster able to make some 60,000 tons of steel slabs each month.

The re-start will help ISG continue to boost its production, according to CEO Rodney Mott, who has predicted ISG will ship between 14 million and 15 million tons of finished steel this year, up from 10.4 million tons in 2003. ISG has also continued to raise the prices of its products, often taking the form of “raw materials surcharges.”