Steelscapes: Inside the Severstal Dearborn steel plant
Severstal North America's Dearborn, Mich. steel plant brings one of America's classic industries back to life.
Railcars deliver coke to Severstal Dearborn, the former Ford River Rouge steel plant. Severstal North America bought the plant and is modernizing the entire facility, spending millions to convert it into what could become the country's most efficient steel plant servicing the automotive industry.
Here are the vitals on Severstal and the U.S. steel industry:
75% is the capacity-utilization percentage--the industry's most important metric--for U.S. steel as of February. That's up from 45.5% in 2009 but far below health industry numbers, around 90%.
5.8 million tons is the annual production capacity of Severstal's U.S. plants--Dearborn, Mich. (formerly Ford's River Rouge), and Columbus, Miss. The company has invested $1.3 billion since 2008.
$900 is the current price per ton of hot-rolled coil steel, up from $610 in 2010 and $471 in 2009. Higher prices are normally good for the market, but this hike comes partly from a 49% increase in the price of Chinese iron ore--a key determinant of U.S. costs--since February 2010.
Here are the vitals on Severstal and the U.S. steel industry:
75% is the capacity-utilization percentage--the industry's most important metric--for U.S. steel as of February. That's up from 45.5% in 2009 but far below health industry numbers, around 90%.
5.8 million tons is the annual production capacity of Severstal's U.S. plants--Dearborn, Mich. (formerly Ford's River Rouge), and Columbus, Miss. The company has invested $1.3 billion since 2008.
$900 is the current price per ton of hot-rolled coil steel, up from $610 in 2010 and $471 in 2009. Higher prices are normally good for the market, but this hike comes partly from a 49% increase in the price of Chinese iron ore--a key determinant of U.S. costs--since February 2010.
Last updated March 30 2011: 11:05 AM ET
