Lorain mayor: Republic Steel could reopen rolling mill this year

LORAIN — Republic Steel has committed to reopening its Lorain rolling mill sometime this year, according to Mayor Jack Bradley. In the years since the plant idled in 2016, Republic has proposed restarts to its furnaces year after year. Bradley said he would not have announced the most recent promise at Monday's City Council meeting if he didn't think it was true. "Of course, everything's subject to change, but if the markets remain where they're at right now, it looks very, very promising," he said. Republic Steel idled its East 28th Street Plant five years ago, but it had shut down certain operations and laid off workers in the years leading up to its almost complete closure. Since then, it has maintained a skeleton crew, Bradley said. It is not the first time Bradley has predicted a reopening of the industrial giant. In his first state of the city address in 2020, he said he'd spoken to Republic Steel Senior Vice President Elizabeth Evans, who said the company was willing to restart its furnaces at a cost of about $50 million. On-again, off-again tariffs had allowed purchasers to "game the system" Bradley said, but a recent uptick in domestic markets has brought reopening the mill back to the table. On Tuesday, Bradley said he was still working with Evans to restart the rolling mill. Evans' ties to the county, via her father, former County Coroner Dr. Stephen Evans, haven't hurt negotiations either, he said. "She has been cooperative as far as giving us accurate information, so I feel very good about what she's been telling us," he said. The city is helping Republic secure a $500,000 grant from Jobs Ohio to help push the restart, Bradley said. That grant would require the company to hire 125 workers and keep operations running for a minimum of two years. Bradley is working with Jobs Ohio to extend a time limit to allow the manufacturer to "get things in place," he said. Depending on treasury guidelines attached to the American Rescue Plan, the city could put some of its federal money toward the reopening, he said. Lorain could see more than $30 million in COVID-19 relief funds. While a concrete timeline was not immediately available, Bradley was confident the rolling mill would reopen sometime this year. It is unclear if there is a timeline in place to restart its electric arc furnace, casters and other facilities. United Steelworkers Local 1104 officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.