US Steel slows Indiana mill due to lack of ore

US Steel scales back Indiana mill's steelmaking; lake ice leaves mill without iron ore

GARY, Ind. (AP) - U.S. Steel has scaled back steelmaking at its massive northwestern Indiana mill because the ice-covered Great Lakes have cut off the mill's access to vital iron ore.

The company says in a letter to its customers that it has reduced production at the Gary Works complex's blast furnaces and steelmaking due to "unprecedented ice conditions on the Great Lakes."

The Times of Munster reports ( http://bit.ly/QMW0D4 ) that treacherous ice covering much of Lake Superior has prevented ships from hauling iron ore from Minnesota's Iron Range to northwestern Indiana steel mills.