OTTAWA – U.S. Steel Canada, formerly known as Stelco, is temporarily shutting down its Hamilton mill and most of its Lake
Erie operations, affecting about 1,500 workers, the company said on Tuesday.
U.S. Steel said, over the next several weeks, it will be temporarily idling the finishing and coking operations at Hamilton Works and the steel-making and finishing operations at Lake Erie Works near Nanticoke, Ont., as it concentrates its production at three mills in the United States.
"The difficult decision to continue to temporarily consolidate our production, we believe, is a necessary response to
current market conditions," said John Surma, chairman and CEO of the Pittsburgh-based company.
The move, driven by slumping demand in the steel sector, is a major blow to the southern Ontario industrial city of
Hamilton, which has been hurt by earlier layoffs at the company and its rival, ArcelorMittal Dofasco Inc.
The company notified government and union officials of the impending layoffs on Tuesday afternoon.
The former Stelco mill at Hamilton was acquired by U.S. Steel two years ago.
"It’s devastating for the community," Bill Ferguson, leader of the United Steelworkers union at the Lake Erie operations,
told the Hamilton Spectator on Tuesday. "For the local people, this will be quite a blow. This plant, Lake Erie, has never shut down in its history."
U.S. Steel Canada has already laid off almost 700 of 1,700 hourly employees in Hamilton, where it shut down its blast
furnace in November.
The remaining operations at the Hamilton plant, including its steel-finishing lines and coke ovens, will now be
closed as well, said Rolf Gerstenberger, president of the United Steelworkers union at the plant.
The global steel industry has been hit hard by the worldwide recession, which has cut demand for steel used in
construction, the auto and appliance industries and the capital goods sector.
In Canada, steel makers such as the former Algoma Steel, Ipsco and steel distributor Russel Metals Inc. have cut jobs
and streamlined operations to deal with the industry downturn.
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