Sheet steel processor Heidtman Steel is finalizing plans to build a 500,000 ton/year mill capable of cold-rolling mill, continuous annealing, pickling and slitting somewhere in Ohio, Michigan or Indiana. Once the site for the $225 million facility is chosen, the firm expects it will take 22 months to build.

Federal antitrust authorities have approved the U.S. Steel acquisition of Lone Star Technologies, a maker of welded pipe used in oil fields. The $2.1 billion cash deal, announced in March, makes U.S. Steel the largest producer of tubular steel in North America.

Marmon/Keystone Canada of Burlington, Ontario, is opening an 18,000-square foot warehouse in June in the north industrial area of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum tubing and steel bar products facility will be a satellite operation of the company's Winnipeg service center.

Edgen Murray, a pipe and tubing distribution firm, is acquiring PetroSteel of Bala Cynwyd, Pa., which distributes specialty offshore-grade steel plates and bar-grade profiles. The 31st largest steel distribution company in 2006, Edgen Murray has annual sales of about $400 million in 2006; PetroSteel's revenue totaled about $92 million.

Nyrstar is expected to come into existence this September, merging the mining and smelting assets of Australian zinc and lead miner Zinifex and Belgian metals group. Nyrstar will produce about 1.2 million metric tons of zinc and zinc alloys annually, or about 10% of the world supply. The firm's smelting operations will be in Australia, Belgium, China, France, the Netherlands, Thailand and the U.S. (Clarksville, Tenn.).

Diamond producer Elkedra Diamonds is spinning out its uranium and base metal assets in Queensland and the Northern Territory of Australia into a separate company, Uramet Minerals which also will be based in the town of Subiaco, Western Australia.

Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, has completed a $1.5 billion purchase of the Sicartsa steel mill from Mexico's Grupo Villacero. The acquisition also includes Metaver, a Mexican mini-mill; Sibasa and Camsa, two Mexican rolling mills and Border Steel, a mini-mill in Texas.

Grupo Imsa of Mexico is being sold to Luxembourg-based Ternium for about $1.7 billion. Grupo Imsa has a steel division, Grupo Acero, that produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized sheet, and Verzatec, that groups aluminum and plastics businesses. The firm has plants in Mexico, Guatemala and the U.S.