[Canadian ST]

Well it seems I have lost my job as well as 2100 others.


By Rob DelaneyMarch 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Steel Corp., the largest U.S.- based steelmaker by sales, is idling most of its operations in Canada and laying off 1,500 workers because of falling demand.

Production will be halted within “weeks” at facilities in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario, the company said today in a statement. Some of the work will be transferred to plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Alabama, U.S. Steel said.

Steel prices have plunged by more than half from a record $1,068 a ton in July as the slowing global economy reduced demand for automobiles, appliances and homes. Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel has joined competitors including Nucor Corp. and Steel Dynamics Inc. in slashing production since the fourth quarter.

“The difficult decision to continue to temporarily consolidate our production, we believe, is a necessary response to current market conditions,” Chief Executive Officer John Surma said in the statement.

U.S. Steel acquired the plants in 2007 when it bought Stelco Inc. for $1.1 billion, marking the sale of the last Canadian- owned, integrated steel mill. The two plants are U.S. Steel’s only facilities in Canada.

In November, U.S. Steel announced 177 workers will be fired at the company’s Hamilton and Nanticoke plants. The terminations announced today are in addition to the earlier ones, Erin DiPietro, a company spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview.

The average price of hot-rolled steel sheet, the benchmark product used in cars and appliances, dropped to $499 a ton last month from $514 in January, Purchasing Magazine said Feb. 27. Cold-rolled sheet fell to $588 a ton from $607.

The statement was released after the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange, where U.S. Steel rose 33 cents, or 2 percent, to $17.21 at 4:15 p.m. The shares have fallen 54 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Delaney in Toronto at robdelaney@bloomberg.net. [/I][/I]