U.S. Steel Corp. will lay off 680 workers when it idles part of its Minntac mine in northeastern Minnesota, which ships iron ore to its Northwest Indiana mills.
The Pittsburgh-based company announced Tuesday it would temporarily idle a portion of the facility in Mount Iron, Minn., on June 1 as part of an overall adjustment to market conditions and a historic torrent of imports.
U.S. Steel has notified workers they may be laid off during the idling. The exact number who will lose their jobs will depend on how many workers are needed to run and maintain the mine.
High inventory levels led to the move. The steelmaker, which operates local mills in Gary, East Chicago and Portage, will continue to run the mine at a capacity reduced enough to meet weaker customer demand.
"The company routinely adjusts production at its operating facilities to reflect market fluctuations," U.S. Steel said in a statement. "These ongoing operational adjustments are a result of challenging market conditions that reflect the cyclical nature of the industry. Global influences in the market, including a high level of imports, unfairly traded products and reduced steel prices, continue to have an impact."
So far this year, U.S. Steel has announced around 6,600 job cuts nationwide, including in Ohio, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Alabama and Northwest Indiana. In the region, the steelmaker laid off all the recent hires at Gary Works, temporarily idled East Chicago Tin and permanently closed the Gary Works coke-making plant.