AK Steel will shut down largely idled Kentucky steel plant by end of 2019

AK Steel Holding announced plans to close the largely-idled Ashland Works facility in Ashland, Kentucky, by the end of the year, according to various local newspaper reports.

More than three years ago, the West Chester Twp.-based company idled most of its Ashland Works operations, including the blast furnace, but continued to operate a single hot dip galvanizing coating line with 230 employees.

AK Steel said it plans to increase its operating efficiency and lower its costs by completing the shutdown of the blast furnace and steelmaking operations within the next several months, and by working with its customers to transition products coated at Ashland Works to other AK Steel operations in the United States with available capacity before the end of the year.

Those are measures expected to increase those operations’ utilization rates. Production volumes and customer shipments are not expected to be impacted by the closure. The company will offer employees at the Ashland Works site open jobs at its other facilities, it said.

Source: Journal News, photo: fotolia