SeverCorr begins first commercial production

SeverCorr began its first commercial production on Wednesday at its $880 million-worth Lowndes County Plant in northeastern Mississippi. America's newest steel-producing company, SeverCorr, has taken its first step by starting its pickling line operation. The company is currently purchasing hot rolled bands from third parties for pickling until its own hot rolled product is available later this year. The new mill will produce 1.5 million tons of steel annually when construction is completed in the third quarter of 2007. In the meantime, more SeverCorr products will become available, including cold rolled by the end of the first quarter, and galvanized and galvannealed by the end of the second quarter. Once completed, the mill will consist of a state of the art melt shop, a thin slab caster, and a six stand hot mill, cold mill and a hot-dip galvanizing line. Production will include hot rolled, hot rolled pickled and oiled, cold rolled, and hot-dip galvanized steels for use in the automotive, pipe and tube, home appliance and agricultural machinery manufacturing industries. To date, SeverCorr has processed more than 3,000 tons of material through its pickle line for nearly a dozen customers, including Heidtman Steel Products, Kenwal Steel Corp., and MISA Metals.