Zug Island mill still operates with fraction of workforce

DETROIT » Great Lakes Works, the century-plus old blast furnaces that made the steel that built America, is mostly idle now, but the mill — despite social media rumors — has a little life left in it yet.

But steel making in metro Detroit — and America — probably won’t ever be what it was.

The blast furnaces on Zug Island were so powerful that when they were firing, neighbors miles away claimed it caused vibrations they could hear in their ears and feel in their chests, according to the Detroit Free Press.

A year ago, U.S. Steel said it would indefinitely idle major operations at the factories, sending notices to 1,545 employees.

Now, there are about 500 workers left, down from more than three times that a year ago — and just a small slice of what it was at its peak. In the late 1940s, more than 16,000 men reportedly worked there.

The Pittsburgh-based company confirmed recently that primary steel making ended in April. The hot strip mill was shut down in June, but a few operations are ongoing — as long as demand will support them.

“We do continue to run a variety of finishing operations there, at the plant,” company spokeswoman Meghan Cox said. “But our primary steel making, which entails the blast furnaces and iron production, has ceased.”

The company said the mill would operate “with adjustments as needed, in response to market conditions.” It declined to speculate, however, on the future market conditions for steel.

Steel companies, like U.S. Steel, are likely taking a wait-and-see approach as President-elect Joe Biden forms his own steel trade policies and more pandemic vaccinations potentially lift manufacturing restrictions and precautions for their customers.

As a commodity, global demand for steel has climbed steadily in the past few decades. China is the world’s largest producer. In 2018, President Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs on foreign steel, initially driving up prices.

But it didn’t stop steel mills from making job cuts.

Detroiters have long had a love-hate relationship with the behemoth.

Since the turn of the last century, the blast furnaces provided the steel the nation needed to build automobiles and skyscrapers. At the same time, it took the lives and health of men working in dangerous conditions and polluted the environment.

Operations at the mill had been temporarily halted in the past, most notably in 2008 as a result of the economic downturn, but restarted a year later. This time, though, the fires were permanently put out.