by John Beagle
A site in Quebec, Canada is competing as a location for the $1B Russian steel company, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, aka MMK.
"If Quebec gets it, that's ok by me," said an unnamed AK employee. The thought of having a competing steel mill in Ohio sends shivers down the spine of many Middletown, Ohio steel mill workers at AK.
Governor Ted Strickland may offer financial incentives to MMK to locate in Ohio. "That would be unfair to existing Ohio steel mills,"to paraphrase Alan McCoy, press contact for AK. MMK is looking at a site on the Ohio river near Portsmouth.
A decision regarding the location is expected by the end of 2007.
MMK is headed by Victor Rashnikov, spoke through an interpreter, said that "..about 500 jobs would be created during the first phase of the project. More jobs would come later."
Last week, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works secured a $507.4 million (365 million euro) loan from international banks to help finance a new steel mill.