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Owner of former Wheeling-Pitt steel mills files for bankruptcy
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The latest owner of mills formerly operated by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel filed for bankruptcy protection today, citing weak steel industry conditions and the lack of a meaningful economic recovery.
RG Steel of Baltimore purchased the former Wheeling-Pitt plants, as well as a mill formerly operated by defunct Bethlehem Steel and a third mill in Warren, Ohio, in March 2011 for $1.2 billion from Russian steel producer OAO Severstal.
Analysts and industry observers had anticipated the filing for weeks.
Last week, RG Steel announced it would begin idling all of its mills June 4 for an undetermined period of time. The largest of the mills, Sparrows Point in Baltimore, employs 1,975.
CEO John Goodwin said RG will use the court-supervised process to explore all options, including "soliciting offers to purchase all or certain of the company's assets."
The bankruptcy petition was filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.
Court documents indicate RG's 30 largest unsecured creditors include Severstal, which is owed $36.5 million, the operators of Wheeling-Pitt's former Follansbee, W.Va., coke plant, who are owed $22.4 million, and Tube City of Glassport, which is owed $10 million.
First Published May 31, 2012 12:44 am
