Steel Mills
US Steel to Idle Lorain Tubular Operations
Written by Sandy Williams
January 6, 2015
US Steel announced Monday it will idle its US Steel Tubular Operations in Lorain, Ohio. In a letter to employees, US Steel said the layoffs are a “result of a decline in tubular market conditions, which is impacting demand for the plant’s products.”
Layoffs affecting 614 employees will begin around March 8 and continue through May 2015. US Steel issued the 60-day notice to union members in accordance with the Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) on January 5.
“The company has suddenly lost a great deal of business because of the recent downturn in the oil industry,” said Tom McDermott, president of United Steelworkers local 1104 in a preface to the US steel letter shared with union members. “What appeared just a few short weeks ago as being a productive year, [with new hires in December and extra turns going on], has most abruptly turned sour.”
US Steel idled tubular manufacturing facilities in McKeesport, Pa and Bellville, Texas in early August, citing poor business conditions as a result of unfairly traded imports of OCTG products into the U.S.
The problem has now been exacerbated by low oil prices that are currently around $50 per barrel.
Tenaris Algoma Tube in Canada has also succumbed to pressure from low oil prices. In December Tenaris announced that 180 hourly employees would be laid off as of January 5, 2015. The Sault Ste. Marie tube mill was closed from Christmas Eve until January 5.
Tenaris management blamed “the low price of oil and unfair priced imports” for the need to adjust production levels.
Sandy Williams
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