Steel Mills
U.S. Steel to Idle East Chicago Tin
Written by Sandy Williams
August 25, 2019
U.S. Steel announced that it will idle its East Chicago Tin facility due to low capacity utilization and consolidate production from three to two facilities. The company hopes to transfer about half of the 297 employees at East Chicago to Gary Works and the Midwest plant. The statement below was sent to employees on Friday.
Following extensive market analysis of our global competitiveness in light of high levels of low-priced imported tin mill products entering the United States, we have decided to consolidate our current tin mill products production from three to two facilities, idling our East Chicago, Ind., facility by mid-November 2019. Our goal is to place as many East Chicago Tin employees as possible at other nearby U.S. Steel facilities.
We currently expect to offer approximately half of East Chicago Tin’s 297 employees positions at U.S. Steel’s other Northwest Indiana facilities, Gary Works and the Midwest Plant. Exact numbers have not been finalized and are subject to discussions with the United Steelworkers (USW).
We have made significant asset revitalization investments in our tin mill production capabilities at our Gary Works and Midwest Plant that have yielded notable quality and delivery improvements, increasing our first-time prime yield and capacity at these facilities. We will be working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition during this process.
A significant contributor to this decision is our low tin mill capacity utilization driven by the continued high levels of low-priced imports that have captured roughly half of the U.S. tin mill products market. These import levels make operating a three-facility footprint like ours unsustainable under current market conditions.
Despite the market challenges, we remain focused on serving our customers with steel solutions that deliver the best in quality, delivery and value. We continue to make investments to revitalize facilities across our company, including our other tin mill facilities. These investments include: the restart of construction on an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) at Fairfield Works in Alabama; the restart of the No. 1 Electric-Weld pipe mill at Lone Star Tubular Operations in Texas; and the installation of a new continuous galvanizing line at our PRO-TEC Coating Company joint venture in Ohio, which will produce our new advanced high-strength steel, XG3™, an industry-leading product that will assist automakers in making fuel efficient and safe vehicles.
In May, we also announced a more than $1 billion investment in advanced steelmaking technology at our Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh. Work on our asset revitalization efforts across our North American flat-rolled facilities is also ongoing, including a commitment to invest at least $750 million at Gary Works. In addition, we announced plans to construct a state-of-the-art Dynamo line for electrical steels at U.S. Steel Košice in Slovakia.
Sandy Williams
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