According to an article in The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register, the United Steelworkers want Renco Group Inc. to buy the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh steel plants from OAO Severstal. Hundreds of workers are still laid off from Severstal Wheeling’s Steubenville and Mingo Junction plants, which have been closed for almost two years. New York-based Renco is a private, family-owned investment holding company.

Severstal owns several facilities in West Virginia and Ohio, including: Mountain State Carbon, which is also known as the Follansbee coke plant; Yorkville; Martins Ferry; Wheeling Corrugating in Beech Bottom; Mingo Junction; and Steubenville. According to the company's website, Renco has "long-term interests in leading companies in the mining, mineral recovery, metals production/fabrication, defense and automotive supply industries."