Flux Steel Works Secures Ohio Plant to Produce Power Transformer Core Steel

The company will repower a 626,000-square-foot former specialty steel plant to make grain-oriented electrical steel, bringing more than 200 advanced manufacturing jobs back to the region, with commercial production in 2029.

LOUISVILLE, Ohio, Sept. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Flux Steel Works today unveiled the plant where it will produce grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES), the magnetic steel at the core of every power transformer. Flux secured the former ATI steel plant in July 2026, five years after it closed, and will renovate and re-equip it as a GOES mill, bringing more than 200 full-time skilled manufacturing jobs back to Stark County. The site is designed to produce more than 260,000 tons per year at full production.

"Our team has nearly a century of combined experience building and running the largest electrical steel mills in America. We are going to take that experience and move fast to put coils in the hands of our customers," said Flux CEO Denny Wist. "We have a fantastic site and are thrilled to be working in Ohio among some of the best steelmakers in the world."

"Every power transformer built in America needs this steel, and almost none of it is made here. Our goal is not just to be the core steel provider of choice for transformer manufacturers, but to accelerate Ohio's reindustrialization," said Steven Stein, Chairman of Flux Steel and its majority investor, Etude Capital. "With a fresh vision that combines legacy assets with new technologies, Flux will deliver specialty metals quickly and at globally competitive cost."

What is GOES?

Grain-oriented electrical steel is the magnetic steel at the core of every power transformer. It carries and directs the magnetic flux inside the transformer, and there is no substitute for it. The growth of the electrical power grid depends on a secure supply of it. Yet the United States produces only a fraction of what it consumes, all from a single domestic producer, and is especially exposed to imports for the highest-permeability grades required for large and advanced power transformers. GOES prices have doubled in the last five years.

Why it matters now

Power transformers are often the single longest-lead-time item in any electricity-producing or consuming project. Demand is coming both from replacement of an aging grid fleet and from unprecedented new ways of producing, storing, and consuming electricity. American transformer manufacturers have responded with major investments in new capacity which requires a secure supply chain of domestic electrical steel. On April 20, 2026, the President determined under the Defense Production Act that electrical core steel is "essential to the national defense."

About Flux Steel Works

Flux Steel Works is an American producer of grain-oriented electrical steel, the core material of every power transformer. The company has taken reservations for over 150,000 tons and is led by a team that has built and run the largest electrical steel lines in the United States.  Commercial production is planned for 2029. More at fluxsteelworks.com.

About Etude Capital

Founded in 2012, Etude Capital is a founder-led private investment firm that has built businesses in commercial insurance, real estate, and industrial project development. Its holdings exceed $1 billion.

SOURCE Flux Steel Works