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Weirton Steel to Enter Staggered Temporary Reductions

01/16/2004 -  

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Weirton Steel to Enter Staggered Temporary Reductions

Jan. 16, 2004 — Weirton Steel Corp. reported that employee reductions could reach 800 as a result of its upcoming temporary curtailment of certain operations. The curtailment has been prompted by a shortage of ironmaking coke.

Operations to be temporarily affected include:

  • Idling of No. 1 Blast Furnace.
  • Idling of No. 3 Pickler.
  • Idling of No. 7 Tandem Mill
  • Idling of No. 8 Tandem Mill and Galvanizing Facilities.
  • Reduction in operations involving Steelmaking, Tin Mill and No. 5 Pickler.

The No. 1 Furnace will be idled on Feb. 1. Company employees will require about two weeks to make repairs to the unit before it is restarted. Once No. 1 Furnace is restarted, the No. 4 Furnace will be temporarily idled. No. 1 Blast Furnace produces nearly 4,000 tons of molten iron per day while the No. 4 Furnace produces 3,000 tons daily.

Staggered reductions, which include union represented and management personnel, begin Saturday and will continue at least through February. The effect on various operations also will begin this weekend and continue through the end of next month, including the idling of one of the company's two blast furnaces.

"Coke is needed to operate our blast furnaces. As we reported last week, the ongoing coke shortage has triggered this unfortunate situation. We again want to assure our employees and customers that we're doing everything we can to mitigate the effects of this problem," said D. Leonard Wise, Weirton Steel CEO.

U.S. Steel Corp., which is Weirton Steel's primary coke supplier, began in early December to reduce coke shipments following a fire at a West Virginia coal mine. The mine, yet to reopen, yields metallurgical coal that U.S. Steel manufactures into coke at its Pennsylvania coking operations. China, which is purchasing significant amounts of coke and other raw materials to feed its rapidly growing steel industry, is also contributing to the world shortage of the product.

Meanwhile, Weirton Steel continues to explore all options in regard to its bankruptcy. Regardless, company officials state that for the plant to continue operations, it is necessary to arrive at a new labor agreement that is competitive with the new industry pattern. There have been no negotiations for a new contract between the company and the Independent Steelworkers Union in over a month.

Weirton Steel, the fifth-largest U.S. integrated steel company, filed for bankruptcy protection on May 19, 2003. It is the second largest producer of tin mill products and employs 3,330.

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