AL Tech Attempts Split From S. Korea Parent

AL Tech Specialty Steel Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in an attempt to separate itself from its bankrupt South Korean parent and Asia’s economic woes. The Dunkirk, N.Y.-based steelmaker said it hopes to emerge as an independent company owned by creditors and new investors. It filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Buffalo, N.Y., and asked the court to bar its parent, Sammi Steel Co., from interfering with the voluntary reorganization. Sammi, South Korea’s largest specialty steelmaker, collapsed in March under $2.2 billion of debt, a precursor to the country’s economic troubles.