DaytonDailyNews.com

MIDDLETOWN — AK Steel Corp. executives and union officials worry that if the state offers incentives to lure a Russian steel company's $1 billion plant to Ohio, it could hurt AK and its peers.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works reportedly wants to build a mill in Scioto County. A Russian news agency has reported that MMK representatives will travel to Ohio on Sept. 17 to meet with Gov. Ted Strickland.

Whether Ohio has offered MMK any incentives remains unclear. But Alan McCoy, vice president of government and public relations for AK, said he bases his concerns on press reports suggesting that state officials have discussed incentives with the Russian company.

AK Steel doesn't care that MMK is based overseas, McCoy said. But the West Chester-based company and the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers Local 1943, which represents its Middletown Works, have told state officials they want a level playing field, McCoy said.

MMK's proposed Ohio plant would make cold-rolled steel for the car industry, a market AK Steel serves, and giving MMK incentives could give it an unfair leg up on the competition, McCoy said.

"We're not shy about meeting the competition," he said. "However, if that competition has received any kind of significant incentive from the state, then that really puts us at an unfair disadvantage. We certainly applaud the (Strickland) administration's efforts to preserve and grow manufacturing jobs in Ohio. We very much believe it's an important part of Ohio's economy and the U.S. economy."

The Russian news service RIA Novosti said MMK, located in Russia's Chelyabinsk Region, performs the complete production cycle from preparation of iron ore materials to high value-added processing of steel.

It controls about 20 percent of Russia's steel market.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2122 or ttresslar@coxohio.com.