By Wayne Allen

wallen@

communitycommon.com

In 2007 Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) announced it was considering building a $1 billion dollar plant in Haverhill. On Friday, July 16 officials with MMK told Steel Business Briefing, "we do not see fit to invest into this plant at this moment."

After the announcement, state and local officials remain optimistic about the possibility of a plant being built on the site.

"MMK hasn't been part of the loop for a long time. They (MMK) pulled out when the economy crashed. All the work that New Steel has been doing, hasn't included MMK," Tom Reiser, chairman of the Scioto County Commissioners said. "I do not know what that means. I do know there have been discussions with New Steel and a number of different people to discuss financing options."

They also quoted MMK’s chief financial officer Oleg Fedonin during a tour of the Russian steelworks as saying, “it seems that very many plants worldwide are struggling. European governments are cutting costs and halting infrastructure and social projects in their efforts to battle budget deficits. Hence orders for steel products will hardly show a dramatic growth. We do not see fit to invest into this plant at the moment.”

New Steel International would have served as the American branch of MMK.

"We have seen this coming for quite sometime and we have been working on a plan b," John Schultes of New Steel International said.

Schultes said it would be safe to say the idea of the plant is not dead.

"MMK has not communicated their plans to the department of development or to the state. As Governor (Ted) Strickland has said we were under the impression this would most likely not come to fruition. We do still believe this is a viable site and will continue to peruse future opportunities. We are aware of others who have looked at the site for potential development opportunities and we remain optimistic of investments in Scioto County," Amanda Wurst, spokesperson for Ohio Governor Ted Strickland said.

The plant was projected to create 500 jobs.