AK Steel Acquires Iron Ore and Metallurgical Coal Interests

AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) announced it has formed a joint venture with an existing company that will produce iron ore concentrate.

As quoted in the press release,

AK Steel’s investment in iron ore was made through a joint venture with Magnetation, Inc. (Magnetation), a private company headquartered in Nashwauk, MN, which recovers high-purity iron concentrate from legacy reserves of previously mined ore deposits using low-cost and environmentally-sound proprietary technology.

AK Steel’s President and CEO, James L. Wainscott said,

These investments represent significant steps in AK Steel’s top strategic initiative to further vertically integrate through increased ownership of steelmaking raw materials. They give AK Steel a clear plan for increasing raw material self-sufficiency, and will provide us with both a financial hedge against global market price increases and low-cost steelmaking inputs for our own consumption.

Click here for the AK Steel (NYSE:AK) press release.