Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. announced that its revised $250 million loan guarantee application has been approved by the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Board. The announcement comes less than a month after the company's original application was rejected. The revised application included substantial additional contributions from company creditors, suppliers, and the states of West Virginia and Ohio.
"Approval of the loan guarantee is a milestone event for the company and its employees," Bradley said. "We have worked long and hard developing a plan that will make Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel competitive over the long-term. I would like to thank those who contributed to our revised application. Without their help, we could not have successfully amended our application. I would also like to thank the members of the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Board for expeditiously reviewing the new information."
The guaranteed $250 million loan will be used to finance Wheeling-Pitt’s emergence from bankruptcy protection. It will also fund the company's strategic plan, which calls for investments in technology that will improve its manufacturing efficiency.
A major component of the company's plan of reorganization remains the installation of a $110 million electric arc furnace. The EAF would replace one of the company's two operating blast furnaces. An EAF typically uses recycled scrap steel and scrap alternatives as 100 percent of its feedstock. Wheeling-Pitt will have the capability to feed both scrap and liquid iron from its remaining blast furnace into its EAF.