India’s JSW Steel says that it has proposed an investment of up to $500 million in “… acquiring, enhancing and upgrading” Ohio-based US steelmaker Acero Junction. In a stock exchange filing monitored by Kallanish, JSW says that this takes its overall investment blueprint for the US market to up to $1 billion.

The proposed investment will be made in two phases the Indian steelmaker says. In Phase 1, JSW will revamp & restart the electric arc furnace and the slab caster and modernise the hot strip mill. The proposed investment including the cost of acquisition, is expected to be approximately $250m.

In Phase 2, depending upon the economic viability & prevailing market conditions, JSW will evaluate the possibility of adding another electric arc furnace. It will also consider additional manufacturing equipment at the hot strip mill to make the Ohio facility a fully integrated unit with 3 million tonnes/year capacity. The proposed investment in Phase 2 could be in the range of up to $250m, “… subject to feasibility studies and necessary approvals.”

JSW already operates plate and pipe mills in Baytown, Texas. The company signed a memorandum in March this year to consider an investment of $500m for expanding that operation, subject to US Environmental Protection Agency approval (see Kallanish 28 March).

“It is our intention to further augment our capacity in Acero Junction over the next few years and, subject to necessary approvals, to take the combined capacity of JSW USA to 4m t/y (3m t/y at Acero and 1m t/y at Baytown), which will be 100% American melted and manufactured," says JSW Steel (USA) Inc director Parth Jindal.