Sep. 8--Mum's the word

Russia's TMK has been mum about its plans for the former IPSCO mills in Ambridge and Koppel.

"We haven't sat down and talked with them yet," said Rick Galino, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 9305 in Beaver Falls, which represents roughly 700 workers at the mills.

U.S. representatives for TMK, which makes pipe for the oil and natural gas industry, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Gerald Dickey, a spokesman for the USW in Pittsburgh, said the union expects TMK "to live up to the terms of the labor agreement and maintain and invest in the mills."

Evraz Group, another Russian steel giant, paid $4 billion in June to Svenskt Stal AB of Sweden for IPSCO's North American operations. Evraz then sold IPSCO's U.S. operations to TMK for $1.7 billion.

TMK has two options, according to Ravi Madhavan, a business professor at the University of Pittsburgh. It can either strip the mills of their assets and break up the company or, as the union stipulates, invest in the mills and the training of employees.

The idea of Russia, the United States' Cold War nemesis, owning mills in the United States might give some an uneasy feeling, Madhavan said. However, that doesn't mean TMK or other Russian companies will cut jobs or close the plants, he said.

"There's nothing to indicate that foreign companies are worse than those in the U.S.," Madhavan said.

Investing overseas

Russians aren't the only steel companies to invest outside their borders.

For example, U.S. Steel began investing in European markets in 2001, when it bought a mill in the Eastern European nation of Slovakia. Two years later, it bought Serbian steelmaker Sartid a.d. and its subsidiaries.

The European mills account for roughly 30 percent of U.S. Steel's business, said Ravi Madhavan, a business professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

STEEL PLANT SALES

IPSCO Koppel Tubular Corp., a division of Svenskt Stal AB of Sweden.

Locations: Koppel and Ambridge.

Acquired by Russia's TMK in June as part of a $1.7 billion deal for IPSCO's operations in the U.S.

Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, a division of Esmark Inc. of Chicago.

Locations: Wheeling, W. Va.; Steubenville, Ohio; Allenport, Pa.

Acquired in August by Russia's Severstal, which bought Esmark for $775 million.

Sharon Coating LLC (formerly Sharon Steel Corp.).

Location: Farrell.

Acquired in a joint venture in 2007 by Russia's Novolipetsk Steel, or NLMK, and Switzerland's Duferco.

Wheatland Tube Co., a division of John Maneely Co., Beachwood, Ohio.

Location: Wheatland.