Severstal

Severstal (Russian: Северсталь, lit. 'Northern Steel') is a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, headquartered in Cherepovets. Severstal is listed on the Moscow Exchange and LSE and is the largest steel company in Russia. The company is majority-owned and controlled by billionaire Alexey Mordashov. Severstal owns major industrial facilities in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, France, and Italy, as well as in several African countries. The company also has mining assets, thus securing its supply of raw materials. Severstal also owns Severstal Cherepovets, a professional ice hockey club which plays in the Kontinental Hockey League and Severstal Air Company, an airline operating mainly from Vnukovo International Airport and Cherepovets Airport. Severstal has been ranked as among the 16th best of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights and resource extraction in the Arctic.[4] History[edit] During the early 1930s, deposits of iron ore were discovered on the Kola Peninsula and, at about the same time large quantities of coal were discovered in the area of Pechora.[5] These two factors made it possible to establish a viable steel industry in the northwest of Russia. In 1940, the Government of the Soviet Union published a resolution "On The Organisation of Steel Making in the North-West of the USSR", which created a steel mill in Cherepovets, a city accessible by both the St Petersburg-Ekaterinburg railway and by the Volga–Baltic Waterway. In 1947, the construction of Cherepovets Steel Mill was completed. Facility construction accelerated after the end of World War II, and at 3:25 PM on 24 August 1955, the Cherepovets steel mill was put into operation. Development continued in the following decades, making Cherepovets a major centre of steel production in the Soviet Union. On 24 September 1993, a decree by the President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, transformed the state-owned Cherepovets Iron and Steel Complex into the Severstal open joint-stock company. In 2004, Severstal North America was created when Severstal acquired all the steelmaking assets of Rouge Steel, based in Michigan, USA. In April 2005, Severstal acquired a 19.9% stake in European steel producer Gruppo Lucchini. In June 2005, Severstal acquired a listing on MICEX SE. In March 2006, the company launched an offer for the French conglomerate Arcelor.[6] The offer did not materialize and Arcelor was instead acquired by Mittal Steel on 25 June 2006 to create Arcelor Mittal. In April 2006, Severstal and Arcelor inaugurated the Severgal joint venture, at that time owned 75% by Severstal and 25% by Arcelor.[7] In April 2006, Severstal acquired British wire producer Carrington Wire. In October 2006, Severstal acquired a controlling stake in Lucchini. In November 2006, Severstal Global Depository Receipts began trading on the London Stock Exchange priced at $12.50.[8] In May 2007, Severstal acquired Arcelor’s 25% stake in Severgal. In May 2007, Severstal acquired a further 9% of Lucchini. In February 2007, Severstal acquired Celtic Resources, a gold mining company with assets in Russia and Kazakhstan. In September 2007, Severcorr began operations in Columbus, Mississippi. In October 2007, Severstal acquired Aprelkovo and Nerungri Metallic, two gold mines in Eastern Russia. In May 2008, Severstal Metiz TAS agreed to the sale of the group TAS 34.6% share of JSC Dneprometiz to Severstal Metiz. In May 2008, Severstal acquired Sparrows Point, a steel mill in Maryland, USA, from Arcelor Mittal.[9] In May 2008, Severstal Resources acquired a controlling stake in an iron ore deposit in Western Africa and becomes a shareholder of Mano River Resources In June 2008, Severstal acquired Esmark Inc. based in West Virginia, USA.[10] Im July 2008, Severstal acquired WCI Steel mill in Warren, Ohio, USA.[11] In August 2008, Severstal Metiz acquired 100% of Redaelli Tecna. In August 2008, Severstal Resources acquired Balazhal Gold Mine in Kazakhstan.[12] In November 2008, the company acquired PBS Coals based in Pennsylvania, USA.[13] In November 2008, Severstal Resources acquired a controlling stake in High River Gold.[14] In 2008, the company began a $500 million expansion to double the output of Severstal Columbus to 3.4 million tons.[15] In January 2010, the company closed Carrington Wire.[16] In March 2010, the company acquired all the shares of Gruppo Lucchini from the Lucchini family and became the only shareholder of the company.[17] In June 2010, the company sold 50.8% of Lucchini S.p.A. to a company controlled by Alexey Mordashov. In October 2010, the company acquired a 43.21% stake in Crew Gold.[18] In October 2010, the company created Nord Gold Nv. In October 2010, the company received a license for Centralnoe coalfield in Tyva. In November 2010, an MOU with NSDC to build a steel mill in India was signed. In January 2011, the company acquired the remaining shares of Crew Gold.[19] In March 2011, the company sold its facilities in Warren, Wheeling and Sparrows Point.[20][21][22] On February 11, 2013, the company's Vorkutinskaya mine, in the Komi Republic in northern Russia, experienced an explosion that caused the mine to collapse on a team of 22 people. A total of 18 people lost their lives in the accident.[23] In March 2012, the company separated from Nord Gold.[24] In 2014, Severstal divested its steelmaking operations in the United States, selling the former Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn, Michigan to AK Steel Holding for $700 million, and its mini-mill in Columbus, Mississippi, built in 2007, to Steel Dynamics for $1.63 billion.[25] In January 2017, the company sold Redaelli Tecna.[26] In July 2017, the company acquired the debt of the Yakovlevsky mine.[27]