More US and Canadian steel firms have announced temporary shutdowns and layoffs as the industry struggles to survive during these trying economic times.
The list of the latest closures includes three Russian-owned steelmakers -- Severstal North America, Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel, and Beta Steel, which is owned by Russia's Novolipetsk Steel.
Severstal NA announced that it will extend its scheduled maintenance shutdown of the L blast furnace at its Sparrows Point mill in Maryland. The shutdown began November 3 and was originally scheduled to last two weeks. However, due to the weak business conditions, the company said that the furnace will now be idled through January 15.
Meanwhile, Evraz' Rocky Mountain Steel, located in Pueblo, Colorado, will idle its rod-and-bar division through at least the end of the year. The division accounts for approximately 20 percent of the mill's production, though Evraz has yet to determine exactly how workers will be affected. The mill told employees that it expects its rail and seamless pipe lines to keep operating as usual for the time being.
Beta Steel Corp. has also announced that it will temporarily lay off 110 of the 250 employees at its hot-strip rolling mill in Portage, Indiana. The layoffs went into effect as of Monday, November 17. The company notified workers that the layoffs would last about two weeks, and then the entire plant will shut down from mid-December to early January.
Next on the list of temporary shutdowns is ArcelorMittal Dofasco in Hamilton, Ontario, which will halt all steelmaking operations for two weeks around Christmas. More than 5,000 workers will be forced to take vacation or unpaid leave during the shutdown, which will begin December 22. This move is in line with Dofasco's announcement last week that it will cut production by 40 percent, and ArcelorMittal's plans to reduce production worldwide by one third.
On the bright side, fifty ArcelorMittal employees in Georgetown, South Carolina will be called back to work this week after nearly a month of being laid off. However, over half of the employees that were originally laid off at the Georgetown mill have yet to be called back.