Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal Looking at Adjustments to Indiana Harbor Finishing Line Operations
Written by Sandy Williams
February 11, 2016
ArcelorMittal may be closing some finishing lines at Indiana Harbor according to comments by USW District 7 Director Mike Millsap.
Millsap said in an interview in the NWI Times that several lines may be closed, mostly in the East Chicago facility, with others receiving major investments to improve efficiency. By running fewer operations around the clock, money can be saved and layoffs can be avoided, said Millsap.
ArcelorMittal reported a net loss of nearly $8 billion in 2015 with $6.7 billion in losses in Q4 due in part from plummeting volumes and pricing at its NAFTA operations.
ArcelorMittal USA spokesperson Mary Beth Holdford said, “ArcelorMittal is considering all options for optimizing our assets in the United States. We are internally discussing the optimization of some operations – including those within Indiana Harbor, our largest integrated facility in the U.S. – as an indication of how we might reshape the business to become more competitive and sustainable for years to come. Additional details will be available after ratification of a new contract with the USW.”
Discussions about possible production adjustments have been part of the ongoing labor contract negotiations.
More than 13,000 ArcelorMittal USA employees have been working for the past five months under the terms and conditions of the previous contract which expired on Sept. 1, 2015.
In the latest update from the union, the negotiating committee was waiting to hear ArcelorMittal’s response to a proposal from the USW that it claims “would save the company millions of dollars in liability and legacy costs over the course of the contract.” Health care issues continue to slow progress at the bargaining table.
The Indiana Harbor complex covers 3100 acres and has five continuous casting machines, slab dimensioning facility, 80” and 84” hot strip mills, pickling line, five-stand tandem mill, batch annealing, continuous annealing, temper mill, two hot-dip galvanizing lines and one aluminizing line.
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.