ThyssenKrupp steel plant La. lost to Ala. up for sale

Published Oct 2, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Oct 2, 2012)

When ThyssenKrupp AG announced in May 2007 that it had selected Alabama over Louisiana as the site where it would build the country's largest steel plant, the decision was considered a major loss for the latter, which had spent untold time and at least $3 million on various reports in its attempt to lure the German conglomerate to Louisiana. ThyssenKrupp never did divulge why it chose Alabama over Louisiana, but on Monday the company announced its $5 billion plant in Calvert, Ala.—the biggest steel facility built in the United States in four decades—is now up for sale. The Wall Street Journal reports the attempted sale of the nation's newest, largest and most technologically advanced steel plant will likely end an ambitious effort by ThyssenKrupp to establish itself in the Americas. The Alabama plant opened in 2010, importing steel slabs made at ThyssenKrupp's new $6.8 billion plant in Brazil and processing them into high-grade sheets for car and appliance makers. The arrangement represented an unusual attempt to link steelmaking on different continents. Now it appears ThyssenKrupp is pulling the plug on its total $11.8 billion investment, citing high production and transportation costs, a weakening market and intense competition. The Steel Americas division, of which the two plants are the only production facilities, incurred a $1 billion loss for the first nine months of the fiscal year that ended Sunday. Read the full story here.