US Steel Idles Plants

Due to a shrinking economy and slow demand Pittsburgh based US Steel says it will idle two steel making plants in Illinois and Michigan and an iron ore mining and pelletizing facility in Minnesota. Approximately 35-hundred workers will be affected. The facilities will be idled not Shutdown meaning a skeleton crew will keep the furnaces and other equipment hot so they can be put back into service at short notice. The company says those facilities will be brought back on line if demand increases. Until then, any additional work will be sent to the Mon Valley Works in Braddock, and facilities in Alabama and Ontario. At this time there are no plans to recall any workers that had been previously laid off at the three remaining plants. US Steel CEO John Surma says “We believe that our difficult decision to temporarily consolidate our production is a necessary response to current market conditions.”