This article was originally featured in American Metal Market February 1, 2017, and written by Lisa Gordon
PITTSBURGH — ArcelorMittal SA has divested surplus land next to its Weirton, W.V., steel operations to The Frontier Group of Cos.
“ArcelorMittal is pleased to have closed on the sale of approximately 1,100 acres of property. We achieved our goal of finding a purchaser with extensive experience in redeveloping a former heavy industrial site into a more productive location that benefits the city and region,” said John Brett, chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal USA Flat Carbon, in a Feb. 1 statement.
The deal has been in the works for a while, with Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal indicating in June 2015 that it planned to sell the parcel—which has been on the market since 2008—to the Buffalo, N.Y.-based brownfield developer.
Frontier is no stranger to steelmaking assets as it purchased the Mingo Junction, Ohio, steel mill from Sparrows Point, Md.-based RG Steel LLC at a 2012 bankruptcy auction and then flipped it in a sale to Acero Junction Inc. late last year.
Included in the Weirton sale are the basic oxygen process (BOP) shop and related structures, miscellaneous structures, the blast furnace and ore yard, according to a Frontier statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
While ArcelorMittal still rolls tinplate at the Weirton facility from slabs sourced at a sister mill, it shuttered other parts of the plant long ago as they were not cost effective. The blast furnace has been idle since 2005 and the hot-strip mill was given the death knell in 2007, after being idled in 2006.
“We believe the Weirton facility, like other industrial sites we have redeveloped, has tremendous attributes and potential,” said David P. Franjoine, president of the Frontier Group. “Our history at Mingo Junction, and how we were successfully able to repurpose an industrial site, is an example of how we approach our work.”
The original article can be found here.