At least 187 employees of ArcelorMittal Georgetown will return to the plant next week for training classes, prior to the restart of steel production from the mill on January 12, according to a union official.
The employees who return next week will receive operator assisted maintenance training, and will no longer receive unemployment benefits, the union official told press. The Georgetown, South Carolina plant, which produces wire rod, has been closed since December 5. About 280 employees were affected by the closure.
In other US steel production news, AK Steel company spokesman Alan McCoy told press this week that the company has idled more employees at its Middletown Works for the holidays in an attempt to maintain profitability despite slumping sales. Close to 500 employees at the plant are working on reduced schedules through the end of the year, and about 10 Middletown employees have been temporarily laid off. The Ohio-based flat rolled steelmaker announced earlier this month that it will cut the pay of all salaried employees by five percent indefinitely, as of January 1.
Also, North American engineered carbon and alloy steel bar manufacturer and part of Brazil's Gerdau Group, Gerdau Macsteel in Jackson, Michigan, recently announced that 300 workers - close to 80 percent of its workforce - will be laid off indefinitely next month. The company will shut down production January 16. The slowdown in the automotive industry caused the need for the layoffs, company officials said. Company officials said production would resume when orders pick up.
Meanwhile, Walter Industries Inc, a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal for the steel industry, announced that its Kodiak Mine in Shelby County, Alabama, has been permanently closed down as a result of high operational costs, and the challenging pricing environment for its product.