US Steel plans to idle one production line at the company’s Minntac taconite plant in Minnesota, in response to changing market conditions, local media reported Friday, although layoffs are not expected. Minntac has an annual production capacity of 16 million net tons of iron taconite pellets.
Company officials reportedly cited softening market conditions for the decision, including lower prices for tubular steel along with low demand and lower prices for flat-rolled steel products.
"In order to reflect changing market conditions and the need to adjust our raw materials accordingly, we plan to take advantage of this situation by performing additional maintenance on our five Minntac agglomerators for enhanced reliability in preparation for improved market conditions," US Steel said in a statement. "We do not anticipate any employment impacts as a result of this action."