Coke conveyors stand near the blast furnaces at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works in Granite City, Ill., Oct. 21, 2015.
LUKE SHARRETT, NEW YORK TIMES
By Mark Maxwell and Sam Clancy – KSDK
Sep 18, 2023
United States Steel Corp. is temporarily idling furnace B at its Granite City steel plant, the company said Monday.
According to a statement from a U.S. Steel spokeswoman, the move is "risk mitigation" in response to the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike that began last week.
"As a result, we have decided to temporarily idle blast furnace ‘B’ at Granite City Works and are reallocating volumes as needed to other domestic facilities to efficiently meet customer demand," the statement said.
United Steelworkers Local 1899 President Dan Simmons said the union is still working to understand how many workers could be affected. He estimated perhaps 300 to 350 of the plant’s workers could be laid off, though he cautioned that figure was preliminary.
“They’re saying this is a temporary idle,” he said. “It won’t be a total plant shutdown.”
The U.S. Steel spokeswoman said the company anticipated the layoffs would last less than six months.
A spokesperson said in an email Monday to the Business Journal that the company expects the layoffs to happen in phases "as equipment is safely, temporarily idled."
"Impacts on specific areas of the facility – and the exact number of employees impacted -- are currently under review," the spokesperson said. "There are currently approximately 1,450 employees at Granite City Works, but we do not believe that many will be impacted."
The announcement comes four days after the UAW began its strike. About 10% of of the union's workers went on strike Friday at three different plants across the country, including General Motors' plant in Wentzville, but Simmons said he isn't buying U.S. Steel's explanation for the move.
“Our order book here was solid,” Simmons said. “It kind of caught us all off guard. It is total bull [expletive] that they’re trying to point to UAW. They’re looking at disruptions down the road. They had this planned for a while.”
A second furnace at the site – furnace A – has been idle since the pandemic started in 2020.
The idling of furnace B comes more than a year after U.S. Steel announced a plan to sell the two blast furnaces at its Granite City Works, and also said at that time that it plans to have only one finishing mill there.
U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and SunCoke Energy announced in June 2022 a nonbonding letter of intent on the sale of two blast furnaces at Granite City that would eventually allow SunCoke to manufacture pig iron there for U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel told the Pittsburgh Business Times, a sister publication to the St. Louis Business Journal, that the sale of the blast furnaces would result in an estimated 550 jobs remaining out of 1,500 at Granite City Works.
U.S. Steel said in August that it was reviewing proposals as part of a strategic review it began last month after rejecting a bid by Ohio-based rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) and its support from United Steelworkers. U.S. Steel officials said in a second-quarter earnings call in late July that conversations with SunCoke over the Granite City plant were continuing.
Go here for KSDK's full report.
By Mark Maxwell and Sam Clancy – KSDK
Sep 18, 2023
United States Steel Corp. is temporarily idling furnace B at its Granite City steel plant, the company said Monday.
According to a statement from a U.S. Steel spokeswoman, the move is "risk mitigation" in response to the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike that began last week.
"As a result, we have decided to temporarily idle blast furnace ‘B’ at Granite City Works and are reallocating volumes as needed to other domestic facilities to efficiently meet customer demand," the statement said.
United Steelworkers Local 1899 President Dan Simmons said the union is still working to understand how many workers could be affected. He estimated perhaps 300 to 350 of the plant’s workers could be laid off, though he cautioned that figure was preliminary.
“They’re saying this is a temporary idle,” he said. “It won’t be a total plant shutdown.”
The U.S. Steel spokeswoman said the company anticipated the layoffs would last less than six months.
A spokesperson said in an email Monday to the Business Journal that the company expects the layoffs to happen in phases "as equipment is safely, temporarily idled."
"Impacts on specific areas of the facility – and the exact number of employees impacted -- are currently under review," the spokesperson said. "There are currently approximately 1,450 employees at Granite City Works, but we do not believe that many will be impacted."
The announcement comes four days after the UAW began its strike. About 10% of of the union's workers went on strike Friday at three different plants across the country, including General Motors' plant in Wentzville, but Simmons said he isn't buying U.S. Steel's explanation for the move.
“Our order book here was solid,” Simmons said. “It kind of caught us all off guard. It is total bull [expletive] that they’re trying to point to UAW. They’re looking at disruptions down the road. They had this planned for a while.”
A second furnace at the site – furnace A – has been idle since the pandemic started in 2020.
The idling of furnace B comes more than a year after U.S. Steel announced a plan to sell the two blast furnaces at its Granite City Works, and also said at that time that it plans to have only one finishing mill there.
U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) and SunCoke Energy announced in June 2022 a nonbonding letter of intent on the sale of two blast furnaces at Granite City that would eventually allow SunCoke to manufacture pig iron there for U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel told the Pittsburgh Business Times, a sister publication to the St. Louis Business Journal, that the sale of the blast furnaces would result in an estimated 550 jobs remaining out of 1,500 at Granite City Works.
U.S. Steel said in August that it was reviewing proposals as part of a strategic review it began last month after rejecting a bid by Ohio-based rival steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) and its support from United Steelworkers. U.S. Steel officials said in a second-quarter earnings call in late July that conversations with SunCoke over the Granite City plant were continuing.
Go here for KSDK's full report.
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