North Star Steel Co. said yesterday it will sell its North Star Steel Michigan operation in Monroe to Quanex Corp. of Houston for an undisclosed amount of cash.
North Star, a subsidiary of privately owned Cargill Inc., of Minneapolis, said the 23-year-old Monroe facility, with 381 employees, should be transferred to Quanex by Nov. 1 if the deal meets with government approval.
The Monroe plant, on Front Street, makes carbon and alloy specialty bars and engineered steel used in the automotive, heavy-truck, and farm-equipment industries, largely for suspension and drive-train components.
Quanex, a maker of vehicle and construction components with annual sales of about $1 billion and about 3,500 employees, said the Monroe plant has annual revenue of $175 million.
Jeff Galow, a vice president of Quanex, said the Monroe facility “will be a great fit” in Quanex's Macsteel division.
North Star Steel's president, Jon Ruth, said in a statement, “This was a difficult decision to make, but it provides a great opportunity for our Monroe employees to grow and prosper with a leading steel producer.”
North Star has sold three of its operations in the last 18 months.