U.S. Steel Restarts Serbian Unit (X)

The Serbian unit of U.S. Steel X has restarted its second blast furnace that was idled last November for repairs. In March 2009, at the height of the global economic downturn, the unit at Smederevo, 60 km south of Belgrade, shut down both furnaces and the steel mill. It maintained operations in the hot and cold rolling mills and sheet metal production. The unit briefly resumed operations after three months, but shut down the plant once again in November 2009 for an overhaul. U.S. Steel purchased Smederevo's bankrupt Sartid steel mill in 2003. The purchase was one of the first major privatization deals after a reformist coalition ousted former president Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. Serbia's steel exports in March amounted to $224 million, or 15.2 percent of total exports.