Steel Products Prices North America
February 23, 2015
Magnetation to Idle Minnesota Plant
Written by Sandy Williams
Magnetation LLC announced it will indefinitely idle its Plant 1 in Keewatin, Minn., due to iron ore prices that have fallen more than fifty percent in the past 18 months. Forty-one hourly and eight salaried employees will be affected the closure which will occur by the end of March.
“Due to the unprecedented collapse in iron ore prices over the past year and the iron ore market uncertainty moving forward, we believe it is in our best interest to indefinitely idle our highest cost operation,” said Larry Lehtinen, CEO of Magnetation in a news release. “There is no way to know how long global iron ore prices will remain at the present depressed levels and consequently we are unsure of the duration of this idling. Some affected workers and staff may have opportunities to be employed by other areas of the company and we will be working closely with the appropriate governmental agencies to assist the employees who will be laid off as a result of this unfortunate event.”
