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MIDDLETOWN — AK Steel Corp.'s top executive said the steelmaker has never before made as strong a commitment to an operation as it has to a proposed SunCoke Energy coke-making and electric generation plant.

In a letter to the Middletown Planning Commission, James Wainscott, AK Steel's chairman, president and CEO, reiterated its support to change zoning of a 157-acre site on the city's southern border for the potential coke plant "which would greatly benefit AK Steel's Middletown Works as well as the Middletown area generally."

Wainscott said the reason the new coke plant would not be built on AK property is that AK and SunCoke "are two separate and distinct businesses. SunCoke reserves the right to determine the optimum location for its $300 million-plus capital investment," he wrote in his March 20 letter. "AK Steel would likewise find it difficult to do business with a customer that insisted we build a plant on their property."

Both boards agreed this week that AK would be the exclusive coke and electricity purchaser.

The proposed site, Wainscott said, is still close enough to the Middletown Works' blast furnace to avoid "expensive ground transportation and helping to insure a competitive market source of coke for many years." Also, he said the coke market has become extremely tight as transportation costs continue to climb.

AK Steel has stated that it would not idle any of its current coke-making capacity if the new plant is constructed.

"Never in the history of AK Steel has there been such a commitment to an operation," Wainscott wrote. "We now need Middletown's commitment to our future ... I strongly urge your support for the city of Middletown's zoning request."