On Nov. 29, 2023, U.S. Steel said it had shut down primary steelmaking operations at its Granitecity plant indefinitely, while extending the shutdown of the last operating blast furnace at its Illinois plant to balance capacity and orders. It would also permanently dismiss up to 1,000 workers. The 1,000 workers include about 400 workers who have been temporarily laid off since October 1, as well as another 600 workers.
According to St. Louis Public Radio, employees who are about to be laid off have at least 60 days left to work. The notice they received on Tuesday met the requirement for large employers to give at least 60 days' notice before layoffs. It is not yet known the exact number of employees who will lose their jobs.
Back on September 18, U.S. Steel temporarily shut down Granitecity's B blast furnace due to lower steel demand due to the ongoing U.S. auto workers' strike. With a rated capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per annum, Blast Furnace is the only operating blast furnace in GraniteCity, while Blast Furnace A was shut down indefinitely in 2020.
For illustrative purposes only.
American Steel was founded in 1901 by the merger of more than a dozen companies, including Carnegie Steel and United Steel. It once controlled 65% of U.S. steel production. It has successively annexed more than 50 enterprises, relying on its strong economic strength to monopolize the steel market and raw materials in the United States**. Based in Pittsburgh. The company has dozens of subsidiaries in the country and also has more than 30 bulk carriers responsible for transportation.
According to the World Steel Association, U.S. Steel produced 14.49 million tonnes of crude steel in 2022.