Severstal plans to restart Yorkville facility on Dec. 13

YORKVILLE - Severstal North America on Thursday confirmed it will be restarting its shuttered cold mill here Dec. 13, though the company is not saying how many workers are returning or for how long.

The company said sheet steel from Severstal's Sparrows Point, Md., mill will be used to supply the Yorkville plant, which will send its cold-rolled products to customers and to the Martins Ferry Severstal plant for coating.

The company announcement Thursday afternoon said the employment level will vary with production demands.

The mill was idled in June as Severstal shuttered most of its local operations, the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel plants, other than the Follansbee coke plant, which has continued to run at low levels of capacity. The United Steelworkers said all but one member of Local 1223 at Yorkville voted to accept 66 job cuts as part of the return to work proposal. The company has not confirmed or denied that account.

The hot end of the plant in Mingo Junction, where iron and steel was produced, cast and rolled into sheets to supply Yorkville, remains idle.

(Giannamore can be contacted at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com)