An Ohio-based provider of special bar quality (SBQ) steel recently announced plans to restart an idled facility, including its electric arc furnace, casters, and rolling mills, leading to over a thousand more jobs for the region.
Officers with Republic Steel reported that the company “is prepared to respond quickly to an anticipated uptick in demand across the nation” following the recently announced steel tariff.
Republic currently has open capacity at its melt shop at its headquarters in Canton and would restart its Lorain facility, which would provide more than a million tons of new production capacity to support the SBQ bar and coil and seamless tube round markets. The company anticipates that it would take a few months to hire and train employees and restart its idled equipment.
“Republic is more than prepared to support market demand that has been previously supplied by imports,” said Jaime Vigil, president and CEO. “We maintained our Lorain facility while it’s been idled waiting for the opportunity to restart and it appears that time is finally here.”
Republic’s products include hot rolled steel bars, cold finished steel bars, cold heading quality rod and wire and leaded steel bars which are used in axles, drive shafts, suspension rods, and other critical components of automobiles, off-highway vehicles, and industrial equipment. In addition to its headquarters in Canton, Ohio, and steelmaking capabilities in Canton and Lorain, Ohio, the company also operates value-added rolling and finishing facilities in Canton, Lorain, Massillon, and Solon, Ohio, and Lackawanna, New York.
Photo credit: The Center for Land Use Interpretation
