South Korean firm restarts steel pipe plant in The Waterfront

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A South Korean company restarted the former Ascent Industries steel pipe and tube manufacturing plant in The Waterfront development last week after nearly three years offline.

Nexteel has brought the massive, bright blue warehouse in Munhall back to life, according to a LinkedIn post from its American division that offered few other details. The site lies within the footprint of U.S. Steel’s old Homestead Works, where industry has mostly given way to retail and office space.

Craig Sullivan, CEO of Nexteel USA, declined to comment.

Illinois-based Ascent laid off more than 100 workers and shuttered the plant in 2023. The decision was part of a companywide consolidation, Ascent said in Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Michigan-based industrial equipment dealer Galaxie Corp. bought the plant’s assets shortly after the closure and, in November, sold them to Nexteel.

It’s rare for a manufacturer to swoop in and restart a steel facility, said Hamilton Cauffiel, vice president of business development for Galaxie. Typically, his company has to sell assets from closed plants piecemeal.

“This time was one of the lucky few,” Cauffiel said. “Maybe 10%, 20% of the time it happens.”

Nexteel is leasing the 284,000-square-foot facility from Store Capital, a real estate investment firm out of Arizona that paid $10 million for the site in 2018, according to Allegheny County property records.

In addition to its Munhall operations, Nexteel has three factories in South Korea and one in Texas, according to its website.

Courtesy: www.triblive.com