Severstal North America announced plans to take downtime at its Sparrows Point steel mill in Baltimore. The company is expected to halt production for 30 days, and the downtime is expected to commence by July 1. According to published reports, the company cited weak demand for its finished product as the main reason for the closure.
While demand for its finished steel has been sluggish, prices for raw materials have climbed, in some cases significantly An article in the Baltimore Sun notes that iron pellet prices have climbed by as much as 130 percent over the past several months, making it far more expensive to produce steel.
Severstal NA, a subsidiary of the Severstal, the largest steelmaker in Russia, acquired the Sparrows Point facility two years ago from ArcelorMittal.
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