Steel Mills
ArcelorMittal to Idle Hibbing Taconite
Written by Sandy Williams
April 22, 2020
Another iron mine is temporarily idling production. ArcelorMittal said on Tuesday that it will idle Hibbing Taconite on May 3 with plans to resume operations on July 6.
“Due to the unprecedented and challenging times presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the joint venture partners of Hibbing Taconite will be idling the operation,” said ArcelorMittal in a statement. “As a result, Hibbing Taconite has begun preparations to reduce production in a safe and orderly manner with necessary precaution to preserve the asset for future production.”
Hibbing Taconite is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal, Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel with ArcelorMittal serving as managing partner as of August 2019. Pellets from the plant are shipped to ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor, which last week idled its C blast furnace.
In the past week, Cleveland-Cliffs has idled Northshore Mining and U.S. Steel announced the idling of Keetac.
About 650 employees are expected to be laid off at the facility including hourly and salaried workers. “As managing partner of Hibbing Taconite, ArcelorMittal USA plans to work with the USW to minimize the impact on the workforce for the duration of the outage,” said a spokesperson for the company.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
BREAKING NEWS: Trump approves Nippon-U.S. Steel deal
President Trump has approved the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, according to an executive order signed on Friday, June 13. Both the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker and the Japanese steelmaker cheered the development.
Nippon exec responds after Trump ‘golden share’ comments: Report
A Nippon executive has hit back regarding the deal for USS following President Trump's talk of a "golden share" on Thursday.
Trump says US government to control 51% share in USS
President Trump says the US government will hold a 51% stake in U.S. Steel after the Nippon deal.
ArcelorMittal plans wire-drawing closure in Hamilton, shifts production to Montreal
ArcelorMittal’s (AM) Hamilton location to be shuttered, wire production shifting to Montreal.
USS, Nippon Steel quiet as litigation deadline approaches
There has been little word from U.S. Steel, Nippon Steel, or the White House since President Trump endorsed the companies’ “partnership” on social media and celebrated it at the May 30 rally outside Pittsburgh.