OREANDA-NEWS. Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) and Duferco Group are pleased to announce that Duferco U.S. Investment Corporation and Esmark have formed a consortium to purchase the assets of Winner Steel, based in Pennsylvania, USA. It is currently expected that transaction would be completed in the second quarter of 2007.

According to the press service of NLMK, Duferco U.S. Investment Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Steel Invest & Finance S.A. (Luxembourg), a 50/50 joint venture between the Duferco Group and Novolipetsk Steel.

Winner Steel is one of the largest independent galvanized steel producers in the United States. Its operations are located on a single site in Pennsylvania and include three galvanizing lines with combined annual capacity of around 1.2 million tonnes and production in 2006 of around 0.6 million tonnes.

The main applications of the galvanized steel produced by the company are in the construction, appliances and automotive industries. Winner Steel is located close to the Farrell facility, which is already part of the NLMK-Duferco JV, and is one of the primary suppliers of cold-rolled steel to the galvanizing industry, including Winner Steel.