US Steel to suspend four more coke batteries at Clairton Works

US Steel has reported that it will idle four additional coke batteries at its Clairton Works coke manufacturing facility in western Pennsylvania bringing a total of seven of Clairton’s 12 coke batteries to a halt as a result of the global economic crisis.

Batteries 7, 8 and 9 will suspend operations as part of the latest development and another battery will be hot-idled, a status in which the battery remains barely warm but ready to resume operations on a short notice, explained Local 1557 president Andy Miklos. Last month, the company announced the idling of coke batteries 13, 14, and 15 at Clairton Works.

In a notice filed with the state of Pennsylvania last week US Steel also revealed that the idling of batteries 13, 14 and 15 will affect 77 employees and will begin March 22. The number of employees to be laid off due to the suspension of the additional coke batteries is unknown; however, the union estimates 200 job cuts based on the idling of Clairton’s seven batteries. That would bring the total number of companywide layoffs at US Steel since November to more than 7,000. The exact date of the four additional idlings is currently unknown.

Clairton Works, located about 20 miles south of Pittsburgh in Clairton, Pennsylvania, is the largest coke manufacturing facility in the nation, producing about 4.7 million net tons of coke annually for both US Steel's steelmaking facilities and to sell in the commercial coke market. Nine of the coke batteries at Clairton Works are owned and operated by US Steel while the remaining three are owned by the Clairton 1314B Partnership LP, and operated by US Steel.