STEELTON, Pa. — Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs has announced plans to temporarily but indefinitely close its Steelton plant near Harrisburg, Pa., one of only three locations in the U.S. making railroad rails.
It is one of three U.S. plants the company will close. The others are in Conshohocken, Pa., and Riverdale, Ill.
WHTM-TV reports the closure will begin by June 30, with 500 to 550 union workers losing their jobs. The closure is not related to recent tariffs, a company spokesman told the station.
“These temporary, indefinite idles are a necessary response to insufficient demand and pricing for the products the affected facilities produce, including rail, specialty plate, and high-carbon sheet; all of which fall outside of Cliffs’ core business focus,” the company said in a Friday, May 2, statement reported by the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. About 950 workers will be affected at the three plants.
The company had previously announced it will idle or partially idle two mines in Minnesota, as well as a steel plant in Dearborn, Mich.
The Steelton plant, with an annual capacity of 300,000 net tons, also makes specialty blooms — semi-finished products that are later turned into steel bars and other items — as well as cast ingots and flat bars, according to Cleveland-Cliffs. It dates to 1866, when it was owned by Pennsylvania Steel Co., and became the first U.S. site dedicated exclusively to steelmaking in 1868. Founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it became the first U.S. facility to produce rail for commercial sale.
The plant’s railroad, the 3.7-mile Steeton & Highspire, will also be shut down. The Conshohocken plant, a plate-finishing facility on the Schuylkill River adjacent to Philadelphia, also has its own railroad, the 4.1-mile Upper Merion & Plymouth.
