US Steel cuts production and thousands of workers

US Steel plans to suspend blast furnace operations at Gary Works and temporarily lay off up to 6,500 workers nationwide in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The company has filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it plans to issue an adjustment and retraining notice that will temporarily lay off up to 6,500 employees nationwide, or more than a third of its 16,000 workforce. in North America.

It reads: “The company will temporarily suspend 6 blast furnaces at Gary's plant and 1 blast furnace at Mon Valley, effective immediately. As a result of the blast furnace cutback, the corporation will also be permanently idle in its iron ore production at Keetac after completing a planned shutdown in mid-May, and has extended coking times at Clairton Works to align coke production with steel production. The corporation will also adjust production at its Minntac facilities to match the idle blast furnace. The corporation currently plans to continue operating Blast Furnace 14 in North America at Gary Works, Blast Furnace 3 at Mon Valley, and Blast Furnace B at Granite City. ”

US Steel said it currently expects the actual number of employees affected to approach 2,700. A US Steel spokesman said “The exact number of employees affected has yet to be determined. We currently expect them to be lower, by about 10% of that number. This applies to both represented and unrepresented employees. ”

The company has already issued 850 warnings to workers at Lorain Tubular Operations in Ohio and Lonestar Tubular Operations in Texas, which are idle, and another 550 at its Minnesota ore industry, which is partially idle.