Mittal may sell Weirton unit

Mittal Steel NV yesterday suggested that it will sell a plant in West Virginia if it cannot solve US Antitrust concerns by disposing of Canadian steelmaker Dofasco.

However a final decision is yet to be made.

Mittal Steel has been weighing the sale of plants in either Weirton, West Virginia, or Sparrow's Point, one of its largest US Facilities, to win regulatory approval for its merger with Arcelor SA, which owns Dofasco.

Netherlands-based Mittal is legally bound by a US Department of Justice (DoJ) decree to shed Dofasco by November 28, though the deadline is extendible by 60 days.

It said its first choice was to sell Dofasco to Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG. Since that may not be possible, it said its alternative was to sell Weirton.

"As approved by DoJ, discussions also under way for alternative disposal of Weirton,'' Mittal said on a web site.

"Our priority is to sell Dofasco, and if that proves impossible then we will sell either Weirton or Sparrow's Point," Mittal spokeswoman Nicola Davidson said.