CHICAGO | The century-old Inland name will disappear from the East Chicago mill when Mittal Steel Co. completes its purchase of International Steel Group Inc. and forms its domestic division, Mittal USA.

An unknown number of salaried personnel also will become history as the two companies merge. Hourly work force reduction will be by attrition, said Lou Schorsch, Ispat Inland Inc.'s president and chief executive officer.

The Inland name remained part of the East Chicago steel plant's identity after Ispat International NV bought Inland Steel Co. in 1998, but the new company and its domestic division will drop both the Ispat, Inland and ISG names, Schorsch said.

"It's an important branding operation,' he said.

"There's a need to get the company better known and build a strong brand. ... It makes sense for it to have one name.'

Individual plants will be known by their locations, such as Burns Harbor and Riverdale, Schorsch said. The two Indiana Harbor plants, located "within throwing distance of one another" in East Chicago, will be operated jointly, he said.

As for the work force, Schorsch said "there is some duplication" on the management side.

"There will be some steps taken there,' he told the media explaining the comment he made in a speech Monday and Tuesday at the Steel Business Briefing/American Institute for Imported Steel conference held in Chicago. He said there would be some centralization of Mittal USA's commercial functions and activities in both policymaking and pricing.

Mittal Steel, formed by the merger of Ispat International NV and LNM Holdings NV in December, had expected to complete the $4.5 billion acquisition of Richfield, Ohio-based ISG by the end of March, but Schorsch said the merger could spill into the first week of April depending on how soon the Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review of Mittal's registration statement.

Schorsch, who lives in Evanston, still is pushing for Mittal USA to be headquartered in the Northwest Indiana/Chicago area.

"It's good logic to say most of its plants are in Northwest Indiana," Schorsch said. "The hard core is here. There's a benefit to putting the headquarters here.'

ISG's CEO Rodney Mott, who will be head of the Mittal USA division, currently commutes to ISG's headquarters from his home in South Carolina. But the decision will be made by Lakshmi Mittal, Mittal Steel chairman and controlling shareholder.

Schorsch's new role with Mittal Steel hasn't been defined, but he said he expects to continue with the company in some capacity.

Negotiations on a new labor agreement between Ispat Inland and the United Steelworkers of America are ongoing, Schorsch said. The agreement follows the ISG pattern with modifications, and should be finished and presented to the union membership for approval within the month.

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