ArcelorMittal's South Carolina Steel Mill Extends Shutdown into January

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) (Luxembourg) has announced plans to extend a planned December 2008 maintenance shutdown at the company's Georgetown, South Carolina, steel minimill. In mid-October, 98 mill workers were laid off for three weeks during planned maintenance on the electric arc furnace; poor market conditions were cited for the layoffs. Again, the poor economic environment is wreaking havoc at the mill. Normal maintenance plans called for work to be carried out over a period of two to three weeks and be completed before the end of the year. The plans now are for the plant to shut down on December 5 and not reopen until at least January 12, 2009. The shutdown could possibly be extended beyond that date, and the number of employees that will be called back at the end of the shutdown is uncertain.

Because no major capital projects have been planned at the plant at this time or in the near future, the company will not have to worry about cancelling or postponing any outstanding capital expenditure. Normal maintenance is being planned for next year, but the budget, dates and durations have not yet been decided.

The Georgetown plant is an electric furnace and wire rod facility located on the Sampit River. The area allows for excellent shipping access with a seaport, as well as first-rate highway and railroad shipping. The plant operates two electric-arc furnaces and is capable of producing 1 million tons of liquid steel and 750,000 tons of wire rods annually. The wire rods are used to make low-carbon fine wire drawing, wire ropes, tire cord, high-carbon machinery and upholstery springs. The plant opened in 1969 and until recently maintained a normal employee count of about 450. The facility serves various markets, including construction, automotive, industrial and converters.

This plant has seen plenty of changes and dealt with a multitude of challenges. In 2003, Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection was filed, and the plant had to stop production. In 2004, the former International Steel Group (ISG) obtained what was left of Georgetown Steel for $18 million. In 2005 Mittal bought ISG, making Georgetown a part of its United States operations. When the purchase of ISG's assets was complete, Mittal held the title of the world's largest steel company.

On a positive note, earlier this year ArcelorMittal's Georgetown operations received the independent and worldwide recognized environmental certification, ISO 14001, standards that are not required for U.S. manufacturers. To qualify and receive the certification, Georgetown put into operation an effective environmental management system, committing the management to good environmental practices, ensuring conservation of input materials and energy. The plant attained all the necessary permits and authorizations and showed intent to sustain good community relations. ArcelorMittal implemented an environmental policy that requires all production facilities to institute an Environmental Management System certified to ISO 14001 standards by 2009. ArcelorMittal Georgetown became the company's most recent U.S. facility to reach the standards for ISO 14001 certification. More than 140 of the company's162 sites around the world are currently certified.

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