Russian Steel Giant to Purchase U.S. Firm for $3.5 Billion

Russian industrial firm Novolipetsk Steel has announced plans to purchase John Maneely Company (JMC), the United States’ largest manufacturer of steel piping and tube, for $3.5 billion, according to the Moscow Times.

Not only does this mark the largest purchase ever of an American steel industry by a Russian firm, but it also shows a clear and concerted effort by Russian steelworks to gain a foothold in the United States via buyouts and takeovers.

Several Russian steel firms have integrated into the United States' economy in the past decade, as the market for purchases and merger is much more accommodating in the U.S. than in Russia. Major Russian steelmakers have been purchasing U.S. firms for several years. Severstal, Russia’s largest steelmaker is now the fourth-largest steel producer in the United States. Riding a dollar which is still historically weak, these foreign giants have found a niche in the U.S. which they plan to exploit.

This is yet another sign of America selling off its assets to foreigners, increasingly destabilizing our economy on the whims of overseas interests. Wealth-making industries which have been the foundational basis of this economy for generations are being sold at alarming rates. It seems that everyone else is planning for the long-term, while Americans are continually more willing to cut and run. If integration from major steel companies in Europe and Asia continues – the industry is already more than 20 percent foreign-owned – we may find the backbone of our manufacturing base completely out of American hands.

Source Moscow Times:

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