Old CSC mill is restored as Warren Steel

A former CSC worker returned to the mill because steel is in his blood.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

American ingenuity and Ukrainian cash has an abandoned mill producing steel again.

Warren Steel Holdings shipped its first order of steel last month from the Champion Township mill that used to be known as Copperweld Steel and CSC Ltd.

The ingenuity came from people such as Bob Fitch, who was part of the crew that rebuilt the mill’s equipment.

Fitch, a millwright, worked 20 years at the Mahoning Avenue mill under previous owners and never figured he’d be back inside after it closed in 2001. He went to work for a contractor and a welding company but jumped at the chance to return to the mill a year ago.

“Once steel gets in your blood, it stays there,” said the 61-year-old Bristolville resident.

A massive effort restored the mill to working order after damage from neglect and water, as well as vandals and thieves. All of the electronics had been stripped, and copper and other metals had been stolen.

Dan Sechler, Warren Steel’s maintenance supervisor, said he tried to find as many former CSC trades workers as he could to repair the facility. He ended up with only a handful because many had moved away or didn’t want to return.

Over the past two years, he’s had 50 employees and 20 contractors at the mill, installing electronics and repairing the large equipment that melts scrap steel and casts semifinished steel bars and billets.

Now that the mill is producing, it employs 90. The mill employed 1,300 when it closed.

The cash for restarting the mill came from Privat Group, a privately held Ukrainian company controlled by four investors.

Ron Bidula, plant manager, wouldn’t disclose how much money was spent on the mill but said Privat hasn’t cut corners. Much of the equipment runs better now than when it was installed because of advanced electronics that recently were added, he said.

“Everything that’s been done here is in Cadillac fashion. We’re not driving a used car here,” he said.

That’s not apparent when you first drive into the complex. Massive parking lots are empty with occasional weeds sprouting. Some buildings have large holes in their sides.

Warren Steel isn’t concerned about much of the 400-acre site because it is only using the heart of the mill — a 20-acre section that houses the melt shop and continuous caster.

CSC’s rolling and finishing equipment were sold at auction, so much of the property is vacant.

The melt shop is where scrap steel is recycled using an electric arc furnace. Integrated steelmakers, such as WCI Steel in Warren, use a blast furnace to produce molten iron from iron ore, limestone and coke.

CSC had just installed its caster and melt shop when it ran out of money and filed for bankruptcy. These pieces were the major parts of a $100 million capital improvement project that was designed to turn the company into an efficient producer of steel bars.

Privat paid $6 million for the caster and melt shop and later paid $1.2 million for the land.

At first, Privat intended to ship the caster and melt shop back to the Ukraine, where it produces steel and has mining operations. The company also controls banking, chemical, energy and food companies.

Privat’s plans changed when the U.S. steel market improved and it saw that it could make money here, Bidula said. Privat also bought a West Virginia plant that makes an alloy used in steelmaking and a rolling mill in Michigan that is closed.

CSC’s operation was called a minimill, a plant that takes scrap steel and turns it into a semifinished or finished product. Warren Steel is a micro-mill, which means it casts steel that needs further hot rolling and treating to create a product.

Bidula said Warren Steel officials had thought their first orders would be for seamless tube used by the oil and gas industry.

Instead, forging companies have been most interested in its steel, he said. These companies reheat the mill’s steel and then shape it into a variety of products for aerospace, automotive and other industries.

Wayne Smith, Warren Steel’s vice president of sales, said the addition of rolling operations is being studied. That work could be done on site or at another location, but it would allow the mill to serve customers that need additional processing work, he said.

Bidula said the mill has the capacity to produce 800,000 tons of steel a year, although it is producing just a fraction of that now. The electric arc furnace and caster came online this past summer, but crews worked throughout the rest of the year to make sure everything was running properly, he said.

Bidula said the mill will have 125 employees once it is running at capacity.

Because of its energy usage, the mill operates at night when systemwide electric demand is lower. As production builds, the mill will add weekend operations and run from 9 p.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday, Bidula said.

Both Bidula and Smith were recruited to come to Warren Steel. Smith, 43, worked in sales for a Chicago die manufacturer,

Bidula, 63, used to work for West Virginia steel and alloy producers. He has a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy and material science from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree in the same fields from Ohio State University.

Both men said they wanted the challenge of running a startup organization. Bidula, who has overseen all of the repairs and production over the past two years, said the effort has been worth it.

“It’s been very rewarding,” he said.

shilling@vindy.com