Slabs of steel from Russia have been laid out in long, neat rows.
Close to 1,000 slabs of Russian steel have been unloaded from a Bulgarian ship at Severstal Sparrows Point in anticipation of using the metal to fulfill customer orders when the steelmaking side of the complex is idled next month.
Severstal has refused to comment on whether the company was planning to import steel – while laying off an undetermined number of Sparrows Point workers – in an apparent violation of an agreement with United Steelworkers Local 9477.
The Brew confirmed that the slabs – each about 28 feet long, four feet wide and weighing about 24 tons – arrived Friday on bulk carrier Pirin. Marked “Made in Russia,” the slabs were manufactured at the Cherepovets mill in northern Russia, known as JSC Severstal.
All weekend long, a convoy of trucks transported the slabs from the mill’s deep-water port to an open area that is under remediation by EPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment for leaking benzene and other hazardous chemicals into Baltimore Harbor.
Furnaces May be Closed for 45 Days
In a letter sent to Sparrows Point customers last week, Plant Manager David A. Howard side-stepped the issue of imported steel and said that “we expect [to] consume existing [our emphasis] slab inventories at Sparrows Point” while steelmaking operations were closed.
Severstal initially said the steel side would be shut for about 30 days beginning about July 1. However, Howard said in his recent letter that operations might be idled up to 45 days.
That would place the reopening of the steel side shortly before Local 9477 and Severstal are scheduled to iron out the company’s plan to permanently reduce the labor force by as many as 600 employees.
'Destanation Sparrows Point' is printed on the shipments.
John Cirri, president of Local 9477, has said that imported slabs would violate the company’s agreement with the union. Cirri did not respond to e-mail messages seeking comment about the unloading of Russian steel over the weekend.
Dave Polanowski, acting union vice president, called imported slabs “a slap in the face” in an interview with The Dundalk Eagle. He, too, did not respond to a Brew request for comment yesterday.
More Slabs Expected
The slabs unloaded from the Pirin would be enough to run customer orders for about four days at the finishing mills.
Sparrows Point consumes up to 3 million tons of slabs a year to roll galvanized, tinplate, cold-rolled and other products for the construction, appliance, container and automotive markets.
Another boat with slabs is expected to arrive from Severstal’s Dearborn, Mich., plant. Further shipments of Russian slabs are expected later this month.
Pirin was docked at the Point’s deep-water port over the weekend.
The prospect of steel being imported to the mill while workers go on unemployment has caused a great deal of distress among the 2,500 union members and supervisors, the largest manufacturing workforce left in the Baltimore region.
Severstal has blamed high raw material costs and a weakening market for its decision to idle the furnaces.
Mark Reutter can be reached at reuttermark@yahoo.com
