PITTSBURGH, Aug. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, United
States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) announced the proposed intent to
permanently close its blast furnace and associated steelmaking
operations, along with most of the flat-rolled finishing operations
at Fairfield Works in Fairfield,
Ala.
"We have made some difficult decisions over the last year as
part of our portfolio optimization," said Mario Longhi, U. S. Steel President and CEO. "We
have determined that the permanent shut-down of the Fairfield Works
blast furnace, steelmaking and most of the finishing operations is
necessary to improve the overall efficiency and cost structure of
our flat-rolled segment."
Under this action, the blast furnace and associated steelmaking
operations will be idled. They and the finishing operations
would be permanently closed on or after Nov.
17, 2015. The facilities that would permanently close
include the blast furnace and steelmaking operations, the hot strip
mill, the pickle line, cold mill, annealing facility and stretch
and temper line. The slab and rounds casters, the #5 coating
line and the Double G hot-dip galvanizing joint venture in nearby
Jackson, Miss. would continue to
operate. The decision does not impact Fairfield Tubular
Operations or the electric arc furnace (EAF) construction project.
This proposal was initiated after careful market analysis of the
company's current and long-term global operational footprint
competitiveness. The construction of the EAF at Fairfield
Works in place of the facility's existing blast furnace was
included in that analysis.
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. For more
information about U. S. Steel, please visit www.ussteel.com.
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SOURCE United States Steel Corporation