U.S. Steel will lay off 244 employees when it indefinitely idles most of its Gary Works tin operation.
The company said in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that it will shut down the division because of “market conditions which were out of the company’s control, including the continuing reduced demand for the company’s tin products and significantly increased tin mill imports.”
The company also said more layoffs could be coming if market conditions continue. The layoffs are effective Feb. 26.
Tin has not been mined in the U.S. since 1993, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report in January 2022. It is mostly used in chemicals. About 18,000 tons of tin from scrap were recycled in 2021. Refined tin comes from Indonesia, Peru, Malaysia, Bolivia, among others. Waste and scrap tin comes from Canada.
The report said pandemic-related conditions affected production in these countries, but tin prices rebounded in 2021 topping $43,983 per ton in February 2022. However, prices significantly dived in 2022 to a low of $19,391 in October, according to The Global Economy website. Tin prices in 1960 were an average of $10,296 per metric ton.
Jobs lost at the One North Broadway location will include 68 operating technicians, 125 utility technicians and 51 utility persons.
