US Steel considers idling Illinois mill

Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. (U.S. Steel) has announced it is examining a consolidation of its North American flat-rolled steel operations and may temporarily idle its Granite City Works steelmaking operations and most finishing operations in Granite City, Illinois.

U.S. Steel calls the consolidation “part of an ongoing adjustment of steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demands.”

In a news release announcing its consideration of the move, U.S. Steel says, “The potential consolidation is a result of continued challenging global market conditions including fluctuating oil prices, reduced rig counts, depressed steel prices and unfairly traded imports.”

The company adds, “These global influences continue to have a significant impact on the business. The company will be working closely with its customers and will continue to operate its steelmaking operations in Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania.”

U.S. Steel has already scaled back operations at an integrated steelmaking complex in Alabama and the future of its integrated mills in Ontario also are in doubt.

The company is proceeding with plans to open an electric arc furnace mill in Alabama and operates integrated steelmaking complexes in Gary, Indiana; Ecorse, Michigan; and Braddock, Pennsylvania. The company says it currently has an annual raw steelmaking capacity of 22 million tons.

As part of the possible consolidation in Illinois, 2,000 employees at Granite City Works are being issued notices under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The issuing of those notices began on Oct. 6, 2015, “and are separate from previously issued notices,” says the company.