Interview with JSW USA CEO John Hritz

Over this weekend, Steel Market Update had two conversations with JSW USA President & CEO John Hritz.  On Saturday, we spoke about the successful start-up of the electric arc furnace at their JSW Ohio steel mill in Mingo Junction. On Sunday, we spoke in more detail about JSW USA and the company goal of being a 100 percent domestic plate, pipe and hot rolled steel supplier. With the start-up of the JSW Ohio “hot end,” the company has taken another big step toward becoming a player in the commodity hot rolled market.

Hritz did not mince words as he discussed the challenges the company faces at JSW Ohio. “The cost saving [of melting their own steel versus buying foreign slabs] is substantial,” he told SMU. Now that the mill has taken the first step and will be making steel for trial and then production orders going into 2019, their focus will be on quality – especially off the hot strip mill.