Andrea Walker reports that Sparrows Point, the big steel mill in Baltimore County, may change hands again. The trades are reporting and the Steelworkers are confirming that present owner Severstal send out bid packets for its U.S. assets. Last month Nucor CEO Dan Dimicco was asked by an analyst about buying the plant.

Q. Okay. Have you looked at the potential alternative instead of building -- that of buying Sparrows Point, which has one of the largest furnace on a deepwater port and also would take out 3.5 tons of capacity in the industry as well?

Dimicco: Certainly making a very good point, Michael, about the Sparrows Point facility in terms of it being on the deepwater port, pointed out a couple of the positives. There are a host of negatives as well and while we have looked at that, I will tell you over the years we have looked at that, but as you know, it's presented itself on numerous occasions, we don't believe that would be the best way to go. If we are to move forward as we plan on with an iron project in Louisiana.

Sparrows' integrated steelmaking (they smelt the iron from ore) and port would have blended well with Nucor's operations, which are dominated by minimills that melt scrap. For Nucor, one of the "negatives" cited by Dimicco is the presence of the United Steelworkers. None of Nucor's plants is unionized.