U.S. Steel to Restart Idled Strip Mill
12/13/2016 - United States Steel Corp. said it will bring back up the idled hot strip mill at its Granite City Works in Illinois to maintain production as other mills undergo maintenance outages, the steelmaker announced on Tuesday.
In a statement, U.S. Steel said Granite City’s blast furnaces and steel shop will remain idled, but the 80-inch strip mill will be put back into service by mid-February and roll slabs cast at other company mills.
The company didn’t say how many workers would be called back, but a spokeswoman told the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat newspaper that about 220 jobs would be returning.
U. S. Steel chief executive Mario Longhi said in November that the company was initiating an accelerated reinvestment program in its facilities in a bid to improve reliability and quality and lower costs. That in mind, the company on Tuesday said that it will be taking periodic outages at its Gary Works in Indiana, its Great Lakes Works in Michigan and its Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania.
The company said that bringing up the Granite City hot strip mill will provide “better alignment with customer needs and improve service while increasing the pace of its asset revitalization plan.”
Incidentally, Longhi said during an interview with CNBC last week that since the election, he’s noticed some optimism within the American steel industry, something that’s been absent for some time.
“Forces are converging to provide for a better environment,” he said, adding that he believes American steelmakers potentially could restore up to 10,000 jobs, if conditions do indeed improve.
The domestic steel industry has shed 16,000 jobs January 2015, according to U.S. Steel.
The company didn’t say how many workers would be called back, but a spokeswoman told the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat newspaper that about 220 jobs would be returning.
U. S. Steel chief executive Mario Longhi said in November that the company was initiating an accelerated reinvestment program in its facilities in a bid to improve reliability and quality and lower costs. That in mind, the company on Tuesday said that it will be taking periodic outages at its Gary Works in Indiana, its Great Lakes Works in Michigan and its Mon Valley Works in Pennsylvania.
The company said that bringing up the Granite City hot strip mill will provide “better alignment with customer needs and improve service while increasing the pace of its asset revitalization plan.”
Incidentally, Longhi said during an interview with CNBC last week that since the election, he’s noticed some optimism within the American steel industry, something that’s been absent for some time.
“Forces are converging to provide for a better environment,” he said, adding that he believes American steelmakers potentially could restore up to 10,000 jobs, if conditions do indeed improve.
The domestic steel industry has shed 16,000 jobs January 2015, according to U.S. Steel.
