US Steel says it is idling Fairfield Works plant in Alabama; 1,100 jobs affected

U.S. Steel Corp. says it is closing its Fairfield Works mill near Birmingham, Alabama.

The decision announced Monday affects about 1,100 workers at the roughly century-old plant.

In a statement from U.S. Steel, CEO Mario Longhi says the shutdown is needed to improve the efficiency and cost structure of the company's rolled-steel segment.

The company says an adjoining plant that employs about 700 people will continue making steel pipe, and an associated galvanizing operation will continue in Jackson, Mississippi.

But the blast furnace and other operations at Fairfield Works will close around Nov. 17.

Fairfield Works is a major remnant from Birmingham's past as a steel-producing city. The Birmingham suburb of Fairfield is a planned company town that grew up around the mill in the early 1900s.