Shut down since October 2008, Severstal is preparing to produce steel again in Warren.
Union officials said that nearly 600 of their members are now on the job at the Warren plant. Those workers are in the process of refiring the blast furnace, which means they can begin making iron in the next few days.
Severstal makes integrated flat rolled steel. The plant was purchased from WCI in 2008 by the Russian steelmaker but was shut down last year when the U.S. economy collapsed and the steel industry, as a whole, entered a major slowdown. More than 1,000 workers were laid off.
"In some respects, it's like a new steel mill is opening in the Warren area," said Warren Mayor Michael O'Brien.
This week's restart means a finished product will soon be coming out of the plant, and that's good financial news for the city.
"Even though they are outside of the city, a lot of the employees reside in the city," O'Brien said. "So there will be an increase in income tax we will be collecting. As important, is that Severstal is Warren's largest water customer."
When the plant was up and running in 2008, Severstal purchased $1.8 million worth of water. Last year, they bought just half of that.
The plant being operational not only has a positive impact on the city and its bottom line, it's also good news for local businesses.
"As far as disposable income, it's enormous with 500 people going back to work," O'Brien said.
The plant should be able to begin melting steel within a few days, and the plan is for finished product to be coming out of Severstal by the end of the March.
