Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal to Idle Indiana Harbor Long Carbon
Written by Sandy Williams
January 24, 2015
ArcelorMittal intends to idle its Indiana Harbor Long Carbon facility and shut down the rolling mill, resulting in the potential layoff of 304 employees.
The facility will be idled beginning with the electric arc furnace on March 1, 2015, followed by the rolling mill operation in second quarter, pending customer requirements. The mill was previously idled in 2009 and brought back online in 2010. An ArcelorMittal spokesperson said the company has suffered losses at the Indiana Harbor facility since 2011 due to low utilization, scheduling inefficiencies and high costs.
“We have been negotiating with the United Steelworkers (USW) since mid-November to maintain the rolling mill as an economically viable operation using outsourced billets,” said the company spokesperson. “We no longer view this option as feasible given the union’s requirement that this change be linked to increased production bonuses at the rolling mill, equivalent to an increase of approximately $4,000 annually per hourly employee at current production levels.”
The plant closure will affect approximately 246 USW union members and 58 salaried employees, most of whom are expected to be relocated into other ArcelorMittal facilities in Northwest Indiana. The decision entails the potentially permanent loss of more than 300 direct and indirect jobs associated with the facility, said the spokesperson.
The closure affects only the long carbon plant in Indiana. The shutdown of the facility’s electric arc furnace will remove 340,000 tons of annual steel capacity from the market.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.
August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.
TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.
Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.