American Steel plans to operate at former CSC mill

American Steel and Alloys LLC will be hiring 110 workers.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A portion of the former CSC Ltd. steel mill will begin making steel in about three months.
Ron Bidula, plant administrator and mill shop manager for American Steel and Alloys LLC, said Friday that the mill will manufacture carbon and low-alloy steel grades for sale domestically.
The Mahoning Avenue mill is the former Copperweld Steel. It then became CSC Ltd., which produced bars but closed in 2001, eliminating 1,375 jobs.
Most of the CSC plant's equipment was disassembled and the equipment sold worldwide, but the melt shop remains intact.
Bidula said American Steel will operate with 110 employees, including 15 salaried and 95 hourly.
Warren Steel Holdings, a holding company, bought the property, which has remained dormant since the 2001 closing.
The property in total is 400 acres; the portion that American Steel will use is in Warren Township. The property also is in Champion Township.
Company owners
Bidula said American Steel is half owned by the Bank of the Ukraine and the other half by Dr. Boris Bannai, a private entrepreneur from Tel Aviv, Israel.
Bannai, who will be managing director and president of American Steel, has holdings in Poland, South Africa and western Russia, Bidula said.
The Bank of Ukraine, Bidula explained, has investments in metal operations.
Allan Knapp, director of the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said that it is his understanding that American Steel isn't asking for government help such as grants or loans.
Improved plant
CSC was unable to survive a downturn in the steel market that came just as it completed a $100 million upgrade. The key to the improvement was the installation of a continuous caster and melt shop.
Bidula said that it is those improvements that are allowing the facility to reopen.
The steel will be made in the 110-ton electric furnace and then put through the continuous caster to produce 12 1/2-inch-diameter steel rounds.
Bidula, who has been in the electric furnace business since 1967, said a marketing evaluation has shown there is a need for the product.
The company is doing a preliminary assessment to determine what repairs are needed to restart the mill.
Needs workers
American Steel is advertising for workers in the skilled trades such as electricians, millwrights and mechanics; and those with experience in steelmaking and continuous casting. The company also advertises for a few laborers.
The ads are running in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh markets.
"We're going to seek skills we need," Bidula said, adding that those with steelmaking experience will receive preferential treatment.
American Steel is not the only activity at the former Copperweld plant.
Earlier this year, Champion Township trustees agreed to apply for a $300,000 Clean Ohio Assistance Fund grant. If approved, the money would be used to clean up the brownfield site around Ohio Star Forge, also at the site, for possible Ohio Star expansion.
The Ohio EPA has already determined that Trumbull County is in "situational distress," allowing for the application of the grant.
yovich@vindy.com