Severstal Columbus LLC has officially welcomed two new downstream campus partners to its Lowndes County facility. Mississippi Steel Processing and New Process Steel are constructing facilities that will offer downstream services to Severstal Columbus’s customers as well as customers of other steel companies. Both are building on the 1400 acre Severstal Columbus tract because of the active involvement of state and local economic development organizations. Each downstream processor will begin operation late in the first quarter of 2011. While construction is under way of the two new Columbus partners, work is also continuing on the expansion of Severstal Columbus which will double the plant crude steel capacity to 3.4 million tonnes. The project includes a second electric arc furnace complex with a ladle metallurgy facility, vacuum degasser expansion, a second thin strip caster, a second shuttle-type tunnel furnace and a second downcoiler at the hot mill. The finishing side expansion will feature the addition of a fourth pickle tank to the existing continuous pickle line/tandem mill, additional hydrogen batch annealing bases and furnaces, a push/pull pickle line and a second galvanizing line. Anticipated completion is in late 2011 through 2012.