
United States Steel announced on 27 March that it would idle two blast furnaces and cut capital spending as the pandemic and a collapse in oil prices hit demand. The No. 4 furnace at Gary Works in Indiana would be idled until market conditions improved, while furnace A at Granite City Works in Illinois was idled with immediate effect. The company also confirmed the indefinite idling of iron and steelmaking at Great Lakes Works and said it would idle all or most of its Lone Star Tubular Operations in Texas and Lorain Tubular Operations in Ohio. ArcelorMittal had already begun preparations to idle its IH-4 furnace at Indiana Harbor after carmakers closed their plants. US Steel cut its planned 2020 capital spending by $125 million, to $750 million. The moves reflected a sharp drop in orders from the automotive and energy sectors, and mills across North America were adjusting output to avoid building stocks they could not sell.
Source: MetalMiner — https://agmetalminer.com/2020/04/13/raw-steels-mmi-steel-feels-the-heat-as-coronavirus-outbreak-intensifies-in-u-s/
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (freely licensed).
