US Steel to cut 770 jobs, idle 3 US plants
21 Mar 2016
US Steel Corp, the largest steelmaker in the US, said over the weekend that it would idle plants in Ohio, Texas and Alabama, and cut around 770 jobs as part of it ongoing cost cutting due to a global glut and low steel prices.
The layoffs include 450 workers at the company's Texas-based Lone Star plant and 200 at its Fairfield, Alabama operations.
US Steel is in the process of idling its Lone Star mill and will idle its Fairfield operations next month.
The cuts come after revenues fell 34 per cent to $11.57 billion and loss of $1.5 billion last year, compared with a $102 million profit in 2014.
The layoffs are the latest in a series of cost cutting measures taken by the Pennsylvania-based company over the last year after demand for steel has fallen drastically along with prices.
Steelmakers in the US blame the sharp drop in oil prices, which has reduced the demand for tubular products used by oil companies for drilling and pipelines for transporting oil and natural gas.
They also blame China for sharp increases in steel exports to the US and selling at below market prices, often with the aid of government subsidies.