Within two weeks, Sparrows Point workers should have a new boss.
Yesterday, the Justice Department granted Mittal Steel Co. NV a final, 15-day extension ---- until July 20 - to find a buyer for the Baltimore County plant.
Mittal, of the Netherlands, had been given until yesterday to sell Sparrows Point to settle antitrust concerns over tin-plate production once its $33 billion merger with Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA is complete.
The sale means Sparrows Point would get its fourth owner in as many years. Longtime owner Bethlehem Steel Corp. sold it to International Steel Group in 2003, which then sold out to Mittal in 2005.
John Cirri, president of United Steelworkers Local 9477, which represents hourly workers at the plant, said that after months of anticipation, he and his members are growing impatient.
"The longer he [Mittal Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi N. Mittal] prolongs this, the more anxious people are becoming," Cirri said.
"The extensions aren't doing anybody any good," Cirri said.
Executives have been tight-lipped about who the potential buyers are, saying only that the list included American and foreign-owned steel companies and private equity groups. In April, management led a number of tours for prospective buyers through the plant but refused to disclose visitors' identities to workers.
While many big names are rumored to be in play, only Esmark Inc. of Chicago Heights, Ill., and CSN Brazil have disclosed that they have made formal bids for the mill.
Another Brazilian steel company, Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, which is partially owned by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel Corp., also is reported to be interested in Sparrows Point.
Esmark President Craig T. Bouchard declined to comment yesterday. Mittal did not return calls seeking comment.
Mittal Chief Financial Officer Aditya Mittal said during a conference call with analysts in February that the company did not want to sell Sparrows Point and had already lined up a buyer, Esmark, for a sister plant in Weirton, W.Va. But Mittal had no choice but to comply with the Justice Department order issued as part of a consent degree settling an antitrust suit the department had filed to block the Arcelor-Mittal union.
In ordering the sale of Sparrows Point, antitrust regulators said they were concerned that Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, would have market power over the tin-plate steel used to make cans for foods, aerosols and other products in the eastern United States.
Baltimore County economic development chief David S. Iannucci said that once a buyer is announced, county and state officials will want to know what the buyer's plans are for the property and whether the company will invest in the 118-year-old plant.
"We viewed it [the Justice Department's decision] from the very beginning as a vote of confidence in the long-term viability of the steel plant," he said.
allison.connolly@baltsun.com