STEEL

LTV Reportedly Wants U.S. to Pay Pensions: LTV Corp. may ask the federal government to take over paying $700 million in pensions to 17,500 current or former employees, a published report said. The government said it would oppose any such move. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, quoting unidentified sources, said LTV may ask the federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. to take over the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. salaried benefit plan. LTV owns Jones & Laughlin. The PBGC is a quasi-federal agency that insures pension plans. The proposal would be part of LTV’s strategy for emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection, the newspaper said.