ArcelorMittal USA announced recently that it is going to “idle” its rolling mill operation at its Conshohocken facility. For those who are obsessed with addresses and municipalities, the plant is located within Plymouth Township, but has a Conshohocken address. For historical purposes it is located within the Connaughtown neighborhood.

Here are the facts as provided by ArcelorMittal:

• ArcelorMittal USA will consolidate its plate operations by idling its rolling mill in Conshohocken, Penn. within the next year. This decision was precipitated by the limited demand from key manufacturers that build bridges, ships, tank cars, and military equipment, coupled with the ongoing surge of unfairly traded imports of steel.
• While the decision will result in the idling of ArcelorMittal Conshohocken’s rolling mill, the facility will continue to operate its unique heat treat, finishing and inspection facilities to finish steel rolled by its sister facilities in Coatesville, Penn. and Burns Harbor, Ind.
• The product transfer from Conshohocken to our Coatesville and Burns Harbor facilities will have minimal impact to our customers and our product capabilities and offerings. Additional investments in Burns Harbor and Coatesville will be made to efficiently accommodate the product transfer.
• The decision will ultimately impact approximately 150 jobs at Conshohocken, and the reduction will occur over many months. The local leadership team is working on an implementation plan, and will solicit input from the United Steelworkers. We will keep our employees and other stakeholders informed throughout the process.

The steel plant currently has 300 employees, so the idling of the rolling mill operation will reduce the staff by half. The steel mill takes up huge portion of the land on the river side of Conshohocken Road.

Conshohocken has a long history with the steel industry and was once a steel town. There was once even something known as the Connaughtown Moon.

More to come.