US Steel has announced plans to immediately lay off 2,700 workers, and in the near future to increase that number to 6,500 since the coronavirus has forced the company to suspend most of its blast furnaces.
After the publication of the loss of $ 391 million USD in the first quarter of 2020, a company from Pittsburgh said that sends notifications about adjustment and retraining (WARN) 6 500 employees, or more than a third of the 16,000 production workers. Last month the company laid off 750 employees, or a quarter of the employees.
US Steel, the second largest steel producer in the U.S., has 21 000 employees in North America, about 18,000 of which belong to the United Steelworkers Union. The company employs 12 000 people in Europe, most of which are located in košice, Slovakia, where we expect even more layoffs.
most of the WARN notification was sent 3 800 workers at the plant Gary Works in Gary, Indiana, and surrounding Midwest plant in Portage, Indiana. Press reports said the company plans to lay off 10 percent of the workforce at these facilities, but can fire much more, since the demand for steel continues to fall.
US Steel is one of the largest employers in Northwest Indiana, and layoffs will have devastating consequences for the region, which has not recovered from the deindustrialization that began in the 1980s and worsened after the global financial crisis of 2008.
Even before the current layoffs 36% of Gary residents lived below the national threshold poverty level of the government - 24 $ 600 for a family of four.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus in lake County, which includes Gary, there were about 2 000 cases COVID-19 and 95 deaths.
the Steelworkers Union of the United States, one of the staunchest supporters of trade war measures of the administration of the trump against China and other countries that have already entered into negotiations with steelmakers in connection with the reduction of production in the industry.
Never before steel industry witnessed such a sudden and complete drop in steel demand. The production of cars and household appliances, the two largest consumers of steel, has practically stopped. The construction of new homes, businesses and offices is not conducted for two months.
the Report of the American iron and steel Institute (AISI) shows that the production of steel plummets. For the week ended 11 April, production declined by 33 percent compared to last year, while capacity utilization fell to only 56 percent, which is the lowest level after the crisis of 2008-2009, when the download has dropped to just over 50 percent.
the Price of hot rolled coil, industrial standard, fell by 18 percent from 608 dollars per ton in January to less than $ 500 per ton today. A little more than a year ago, the price of steel reached a high of more than $ 900 per ton. It is expected that the price will continue to fall as demand for steel recovers.
