RECENT PLANT CLOSINGS, LAYOFFS AND CAPACITY REDUCTIONS—Continued

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Petitioner LTV has curtailed blast-furnace operations by 13 percent. That translates into 300,000 tons of lost production in the fourth quarter of this year.

Petitioner Steel Dynamics started up a second caster in June, but is operating it at significantly less than its capacity. Overall, Steel Dynamics is now operating at 75 percent of capacity even through it is one of the most efficient mills in the world. Hot Strip.. Petitioner Gulf States Steel has shut down its hotstrip mill for one week, and plans henceforth to be operating the mill only four days a week." Gulf States Steel announces that it will lay off eight percent of its work force, and eliminate overtime for the remainder of its employees. Petitioner U.S. Steel has reduced operations, and laid off 100 workers at its Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh in connection with a 12 percent reduction in output at that facility. Additional layoffs at that facility are expected in the "near future." 10 U.S. Steel President Paul Wilhelm announces that the company has decided to keep out of operation indefinitely a blast furnace at its Gary, Indiana works with a capacity of 1 million tons. 11 Petitioner Geneva Steel Co. announces that it will cut planned fourth quarter production by nearly 20 percent and lay off 350 workers. 12 This follows Geneva's lay off of 270 workers earlier this year 13 Its corporate credit rating was downgraded because it missed an interest payment. Flat-Rolled Nucor announces that it cut production at its Hickman, Arkansas mill by more than 40 percent (i.e., by more than 800,000 tons) because of market turmoil in the wake of the flood of cheap imports. 14 Since then, Nucor announced that it was cutting back production at all of its flat-rolled facilities in the face of the import onslaught. 15 Nucor announced that the effect of the cuts was "10-15% reduction in sheet output, mostly HR coils." 16

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Acme Metals, Inc. ("Acme"), files for protection from
creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bank-
ruptcy Code. Acme is a classic example of a U.S.
producer that invested heavily in the expectation
that strong demand would enable it to realize at
least an adequate return on their business. In late
1996, it brought onstream a $370 million new slab
caster designed to take advantage of its high-qual-
ity blast furnace operations, while linking it to
low-cost, mini-mill style casting and rolling equip-
ment. Acme attributed its downfall "in large part
to heavy volumes of cheap imports. . . ." 17
While Steel Dynamics does not plan to layoff work-
ers, their compensation will be cut by 20 per-
cent, 18
Petitioner Gallatin Steel is one of the industry's new
mini-mills. In September and October, it reduced
its production levels to 50 percent of capacity. 19