This is an expanded version of the article that was published in New Steel . The push downstream continues Integrated steelmakers emphasize downstream mills and joint ventures.
Production is scheduled to begin early next year.
This and other investments at Sparrows Point are part of a comprehensive plan to boost the rate of return on its assets, the company says. Sparrows Point completed the re line of the L blast furnace in August and plans to finish the construction of a new roll-grinding facility this year. The new business, with the new name of Columbus Coatings, will have an annual capacity of about 500,000 tons of galvanized steel for exposed automotive applications. Production is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2000. As part of the deal, LTV purchased from Bethlehem a 16.5-percent stake in Walbridge Coatings, an electrogalvanizing plant in northwestern Ohio.