Russian steelmaker Severstal announced Wednesday that it plans to temporarily lay off about 800 workers at two Severstal Wheeling plants in Ohio due to current economic conditions.
Production at Severstal Wheeling's flat rolled facilities in Steubenville and Mingo Junction, Ohio, along with their 800 workers, will be temporarily idled starting next week, the company said. No specific time line has been set for when operations will resume.
"We have no orders," said Bob Crowe, a United Steelworkers representative at the Mingo Junction plant. "We've only got work for three days. Nobody's buying anything - construction materials, cars or appliances."
Severstal Wheeling's coke plant in Follansbee, West Virginia will continue normal operations.
Severstal acquired West-Virginia based Esmark and its subsidiary Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel this summer.