Kingman mill of North Star to be closed shortly

Kingman mill of North Star to be closed shortly

North Star Steel Co. is planning to close down its long products producer Kingman mill in Arizona, due to the inefficient financial performance, failing to meet the initial expectations at the time of the foundation. There are also unconfirmed speculations in the industry that the parent company Cargill considers to walk out of steel business entirely. The problem derived from the wrong policies followed in the volatile US energy market, resulting in extremely high electricity costs. Consequently the mill's electric arc furnace had to put on idle in 2000 and thereafter the mill has been supplying billets from other North Star mills. North Star Steel started construction of Kingman as its seventh mini-mill in 1995 on its 1,040 acre desert site seven miles west of Kingman, Arizona. The bar mill start up took place in March 1996, the first heat was melted in June of the same year and the first rod production occurred in March of 1997. At that time it was targeted to serve the U.S. Southwest, West Coast and northern Mexican construction markets, however company officials state that the wire rod and rebar markets failed to meet the expectations. 115 employees of the facility will now be offered jobs at other North Star mills.