ArcelorMittal sells off US steel mill

AFP, May, 2008

PARIS (AFP) — The world's largest steel group ArcelorMittal said Saturday it has finalised the 810 million dollar (525 million euro) sale of a plant in the United States to Russian steelmaker Severstal.

It was ordered to dispose of the Sparrows Point plant in Baltimore, Maryland, by US authorities as a condition for their clearance of Mittal Steel's acquisition of Arcelor last year.

A deal to sell Sparrows Point to US companies Esmark and Whelling-Pittsburgh failed at the end of last year when financing fell through.

ArcelorMittal has lodged a complaint with the New York state supreme court, seeking more than 540 million dollars in compensation over an August 2007 agreement to sell for 1.35 billion dollars.

The facility, with more than 3,000...