Steel, tin maker files Chap.11

Monday, May 19, 2003 | 9:58 a.m.

WEIRTON, W.Va. -- Weirton Steel Corp., the nation's sixth-largest integrated steel maker and No. 2 producer of tin, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today.

The small, employee-owned company held on while an import crisis took down dozens of competitors, but racked up more than $700 million in losses over five years.

President and CEO John Walker said the company has obtained a $225 million financing package from Fleet Capital Corp. of Chicago, which will allow the mill to keep operating while the company reorganizes.

Walker had been in the middle of a plan to cut costs by $120 million when Weirton Steel's board of directors voted Monday to file for bankruptcy.

"In the past year, we did everything we could do outside the bankruptcy venue before taking this necessary step," Walker said.

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