WARREN - The fate of RG Steel's Warren site is becoming a little bit clearer.
According to published reports, the southside mill sold Tuesday in a bankruptcy court to C.J. Betters, a scrap dealer in western Pennsylvania, for about $18 million. The steel company's Sparrows Point mill was sold as well, reports state.
United Steelworkers of America staff representative Santo Santoro says he's "puzzled, so confused" by word that more RG Steel assets have sold at auction for virtually pennies on the dollar.
"The only thing I was told (Tuesday) night was that, somebody, a demolition company, bought Sparrows Point for $72 million and that WCI (in Warren) was bought for $17 million by a scrapyard in Pennsylvania," Santoro said this morning. "The saddest part about the whole thing is, nobody can understand why scrap yards are the only ones bidding."
Last week, a New York company specializing in demolition and brownfield development acquired RG Steel's Mingo Junction plant for $20 million, while rival steelmaker Nucor purchased equipment from RG Steel's Wheeling Corrugating division. Buyers for the bankrupt company's Martins Ferry, Yorkville and Ohio Coatings plants plan to operate their mills.
Santoro pointed out that RG Steel acquired the properties from Severstal NA for roughly $1.5 billion, "now everything is being sold for less than $200 million."
RG Steel LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 31, stating it could not overcome the deterioration of the steel market.