WSP closing Canton, MI plant
Worthington Specialty Processing (WSP) is closing a steel plant in Canton, Michigan by May 29. The joint venture—which processes wide-sheet steel mainly for the automotive industry—between Worthington Industries and US Steel is closing the plant as part of a consolidation strategy. However, its two remaining Michigan facilities in Jackson and Taylor will remain operational. The closure will affect 66 of 91 employees at the Canton plant.
Port of Houston reopens
The Port of Houston has reopened its container terminals within a day after it closed because an employee tested positive for COVID-19. Vessel operations resumed on Thursday evening at 7pm at the Barbours Cut and Bayport Containers terminals, which had closed earlier in the day. As of Friday morning, the port had returned to normal business.
Vale keeps TRMT operational
After briefly contemplating closure, Vale has decided to keep its Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal mine operational after consulting with Malaysian governmental agencies. The company has been in discussions with officials to draw up a contingency plan to keep the mine operational while also safeguarding employees’ and contractors’ safety. Vale initially considered a March 21-31 moratorium, which would have diverted vessels en route to TRMT to the company’s Chinese authorities. Had that happened, the company estimated 800,000mt of sales would have been affected this quarter. In 2019, TRMT iron ore shipments totaled 23.7mn mt.