US Steel to idle century-old Fairfield Works, Alabama Mill

By Paul Ploumis 18 Aug 2015  Last updated at 08:35:07 GMT

US Steel Corp. has decided to idle its century-old Fairfield Works, Alabama Mill. The plant operations will come to an end on or before November 17th.

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster):  Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp. has announced its decision to permanently idle the blast furnace and other operations at the Fairfield, Alabama mill. The plant operations are scheduled to close by November 17th. According to company spokesperson, the decision will affect around 1,100 workers at the plant. However, it did not clarify whether employees would be presented with an option to move into other jobs within the company.

The statement issued by Mario Longhi, CEO, US Steel notes that the decision was a hard one take. But, there was no other option left other than shutdown, in order to improve the viability and cost-efficiency of its rolled steel operations. He termed the decision as part of their portfolio optimization drive. At the same time, steel pipe manufacturing operations at the adjoining plant will continue unaffected. The construction works of electric arc furnace at the site will progress uninterrupted. The galvanizing operations at Jackson, Mississippi will also be unaffected.

The company noted that tough competition from dumped steel products from other countries continue to ruin the domestic steel segment in the country. It pointed out that cheap imports, especially from China are in clear violation of international trade practices and have caused significant damage to US steel industry. It must be noted that the company had earlier announced temporary shutdowns at two of its facilities in Minnesota.

United States Steel Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading integrated steel producer and Fortune 200 company with major production operations in the United States and Central Europe and an annual raw steelmaking capability of 24.4 million net tons. Fairfield Works is located in Fairfield, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama.