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ArcelorMittal Mines Canada Plans Temporary Production Stoppages
05/06/2009 - ArcelorMittal Mines Canada announces plans for four-week production stoppages at its Mont-Wright and Port-Cartier facilities.
ArcelorMittal Mines Canada has announced plans for a temporary four-week production stoppage at its Mont-Wright and Port-Cartier facilities.
The company said that it would suspend mining extraction and concentration operations at the Mont-Wright facility beginning next July 26th. At its Port-Cartier facility, the company said it would suspend production operations at the pellet plant beginning next July 16, with handling and ship-loading operations continuing through the period.
Rail transportation of iron ore concentrate is to cease during the stoppage periods, but the company said it may carry out some track maintenance work.
“The economic crisis is having a very hard impact on the world steel industry on which our sector depends,” said Serge Miller, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for ArcelorMittal Mines Canada. "Steel companies have considerably reduced their production in reaction to the fall in demand and the rapid rise in inventories. This situation is having a direct impact on our operations and on the level of our own inventories.
“This temporary production stoppage will allow us to liquidate our inventories and plan for operations resuming based on the day-to-day market conditions, which remain extremely volatile,” continued Miller. “We are sparing no effort to minimize the temporary production stoppage. We will carefully monitor market conditions and will continue to keep our employees posted on the situation.”
The company said it would confirm the duration and exact terms of the temporary production shutdown in early June. It is encouraging its staff and unionized employees to take their annual vacations during the temporary production stoppage.
ArcelorMittal Mines Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary of ArcelorMittal, is one of Canada's leading suppliers of iron ore to steel markets around the world, generating some 40% of Canada's total production. As both a mining and primary processing company, ArcelorMittal Mines Canada operates extensive facilities on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence Gulf, in the Province of Quebec.
In Mont-Wright, the company operates one of the largest open-pit mines in North America, as well as an iron ore concentration plant. The site is linked by company rail to the industrial complex of Port-Cartier, where rail workshops, an internationally competitive pellet plant, a private port and the company's corporate offices are located. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, the Canadian mining subsidiary of ArcelorMittal has built its reputation on the pursuit of excellence, quality products, the skills of its 2200 talented employees and environmental leadership in the industry, as well as effective management that creates shareholder value.
