Russian steel maker sets sight on U.S. Southern auto plants.(News)(OAO Severstal Group)

Byline: Lindsay Chappell

Russian steel giant OAO Severstal Group is moving deeper into the North American automotive steel market to primarily go after Southern auto plants.

Severstal is building an $880 million Mississippi steel mill called SeverCorr LLC. The venture brings together a wide range of financiers and incentives. They include Russian investors, funding from a German export bank, loans and state incentives from Mississippi, private investors, low-cost Tennessee Valley Authority power rates and nonunion labor to supply the expanding auto market around the Southeast.

The mill, in Columbus, Miss., will be equipped to turn out 72-inch-wide …