Amid companywide cutbacks and thousands of layoffs, U.S. Steel is making a strategic investment in one aspect of the steel business that has been steadily growing in recent years: advanced high-strength steels for lighter cars.
The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker spent $25.2 million to buy AK Steel’s interest in the Double Eagle Steel Coating Co. in Dearborn, Mich. The 700,000-ton electrolytic-galvanizing line, which will become part of U.S. Steel’s Great Lakes Works in the Downriver Detroit suburbs, will increase the company’s ability to provide Advanced High-Strength Steel, including third-generation grades that are still under development.
The market for such metals is expected to grow to $22 billion by 2019 as automakers race to meet much tougher emissions standards, according to a Research and Markets study.
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