By Karen Snelling, Post-Tribune
PORTAGE -- Beta Steel Corp. will begin temporarily laying off workers today in response to a decrease in the demand for steel.
"It's all tied to the weak economy. There are no orders for steel," said Andre Joseph, vice president of the International Longshoreman's Association Atlantic Coast District.
The union, which represents about 250 Beta employees, was notified of the layoffs by the company on Friday.
About 110 maintenance and production workers in the plant's hot-strip rolling mill will be affected by the first round of layoffs, which will last for about two weeks, Joseph said. Workers return to the plants in early December and then face a second temporary layoff.
Joseph said the entire plant will shut down in mid-December through early January.
"It's never a good time for a layoff. But it's even harder when it hits around the holidays," he said.
Beta produces hot-rolled bands. About 35 percent of its capacity is sold to pipe and tube producers.
The steelmaker will continue to provide workers on layoff with full insurance coverage, Joseph said.
The mini-mill was purchased for $350 million on Oct. 31 by Novolipetsk Steel, Russia's fourth-largest steel maker by output.
Beta Steel operates an electric arc furnace melt shop with 700,000 tons of annual capacity and a hot-strip rolling mill with capacity to roll 1.1 million tons a year.