Germany's biggest steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp AG, headquartered in Essen, Germany, announced Thursday that its stainless steel unit in Calvert, Alabama has started production.
The company is currently using one of its three cold-rolling mills, and runs finishing equipment that polishes and cuts the steel in addition to processing and finishing lines.
The stainless unit already has a large established customer base, commanding 12 percent of the US stainless market.
Calvert's stainless operation has 321 employees, and its carbon steel unit has 1,250, totaling 1,571 or almost 60 percent of the 2,700 employees ThyssenKrupp intends to hire.
ThyssenKrupp is currently building a hot annealing and pickling line to be completed in fall 2011. It also plans to construct a melt shop, scheduled to begin operating in the next two to four years.