A U.S. steel producer recently announced the completion of the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of a manufacturer of special bar quality (SBQ) alloy and carbon steel bar flats.
The assets of Kentucky Electric Steel acquired by Steel Dynamics are located outside of Ashland, Kentucky, and are comprised of a rolling mill with an annual capacity of 250,000 tons. The operations were closed earlier this year by the prior owner, and Steel Dynamics plans to reopen the rolling mill in November 2018. The facility will be operated as part of Steel Dynamics’ Steel of West Virginia (“SWVA”) operations, which is located within 20 miles of Ashland. The acquisition will provide product diversification for SWVA through the addition of flats and specialty alloy bars.
“KES has been a loyal customer of our SWVA and Roanoke Bar divisions,” said Glenn Pushis, Senior Vice President, Long Products Steel Group. “We believe that the complementary product offerings will provide value to our customers. We currently anticipate that roughly 100,000 to 150,000 tons of billets will be shipped each year from our long products steel mills to be further processed at Ashland, providing additional value-added capability and higher through-cycle utilization for our steel mills.”
