US Steel to suspend production at Gary Works

United States Steel has announced additional actions to position the company as a competitive entity in the future.

US Steel intends to endlessly shut down a significant portion of its work at its Great Lakes plant near Detroit, Michigan. The Pittsburgh-based steel mill is one of the largest employers in the region.

More recently, Gary Works, US Steel's flagship steel mill, was forced to shut down three of its blast furnaces after flooding as a safety measure, as cold water on overheated metal could cause explosions. The steelmaker is currently restarting these three, as well as blast furnace # 8, which was suspended earlier this year due to depressed market conditions and low steel prices.

The company plans to start idling at or near steel and steel mills on or around April 1, 2020, and the hot rolling mill by the end of 2020. The company will issue Worker Adjustment and Retraining Acts notices for approximately 1,545 employees at the Great Lakes plant, with fewer final employees expected to be affected by idling.

The company is currently planning to continue operating the following sites at the Great Lakes plant in accordance with customer requirements: sheet production, continuous galvanizing line, annealing and warehouses.