Steel manufacturers hurt by nationwide coke shortage
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Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 29 Jan 2004 17:46
The American steel industry suffered a blow recently when the Bush administration lifted tariffs on imported steel in December, paving the way for an influx of inexpensive imported steel. But a new specter is haunting the steel industry: a crippling global coke shortage.
Weirton, WV-based steelmaker Weirton Steel announced in January that it would curtail some of its operations and lay off an as-yet-undetermined number of workers, due to a coke shortage that is affecting steel manufacturers across the country.
Coke, a solid residue of carbon, is essential in the manufacture of steel. Pittsburgh, PA-based U.S. Steel, Weirton’s primary coke supplier, was forced to reduce its coke shipments due to a fire in one of its West Virginia coal mines in December.
“The coke issue has impacted several other domestic steel producers, including several that already have reduced their operations,” said Weirton Steel CEO D. Leonard Wise. Indeed, other steel producers, such as North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor and Ohio-based WCI Steel recently added surcharges to each ton of steel it sells, to cover its raw-materials costs.
Weirton Steel, which laid off 330 of it approximately 3,600 workers in December, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2003. It is the fifth largest US integrated steel company and the nation’s second largest producer of tin mill products.
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