McDONALD — Union representatives for workers at McDonald Steel say they hope meetings with company management will yield information about the future of the Ohio Avenue facility.

The company announced June 27 it will cease operating its 14-inch hot rolled steel rolling mill by the end of the third quarter, and it will exit the special shapes business toward the end of 2023. The third quarter ends Sept. 30.

Mark Murray, staff representative with United Steel Workers Local 1307, which with Teamsters Local 377, jointly represent the facility’s union workers, was at the meeting.

“They said they were ceasing operation of the 14-inch mill, which is the only mill they have in that facility,” Murray said.

The mill produces multiple steel shapes, from expansion joints and decking for bridges to parts used for tracks and on railroad cars in the railroad industry. It’s considered a job shop or boutique mill compared with hot-rolled coil facilities.

“So they will cease operations of the mill and finish out the warehouse, but they did say that is not to say there is nothing left for the future of this facility,” Murray said. “But the only operation they have there is the 14-inch mill.”

A company spokesman confirmed in an email Thursday the 14-inch line “will cease operations, but the plant will remain open.”

The spokesman did not respond to further questions Friday, stating in an email the “McDonald team is out for the weekend” and he should have more context Monday.

Murray said meetings are planned with company officials in the next couple of weeks.

According to a statement from the company, senior leadership and the board “after a thorough review and discussion” determined “closing the mill was the only prudent economic decision.”

“While McDonald Steel has invested more than $26.1 million in capital improvements and $12 million in routine maintenance and repairs and has paid more than $200 million in wages over the past 40 years since the steel mill reopened in 1981, the 100-year-old facility would require an untenable additional investment to operate efficiently and reliably while only serving a limited market,” according to the statement.

About 80 employees will be affected.

“McDonald Steel is committed to supporting its employees, customers, shareholders and the community through the transition in the weeks and months ahead,” according to the statement.

McDonald Steel Corp. was founded in 1981 by a group of local investors who saw opportunity in the recently shuttered McDonald Works of U.S. Steel.

Over the past 42 years, the management and employees of McDonald Steel have expanded its product offerings to more than 500 symmetrical and asymmetrical hot-rolled shapes. The shapes are used in the production of bridge decking and expansion joints, wheels for on- and off-road applications, automotive door hinges, spigot sections and a number of applications in the rail and rail car industry, according to its website.

In October 2022, McDonald Steel announced a subsidiary, Mac Steel GSC, Inc., acquired the assets of Cleveland-based General Steel Corp., a steel service center specializing in the processing of steel plate.

Then, McDonald Steel President Jim Grasso said the company pursued the acquisition because General Steel’s processing capabilities were “a natural complement” to McDonald Steel’s “broad line of specialty hot rolled shapes.”

The partnership, he said, would enable McDonald Steel to “more fully serve our current customers, particularly those related to rail transportation and infrastructure reinvestment, and will pave the way for increased penetration of the construction and agriculture markets.”

It’s unknown how the local action could impact the nonunion Cleveland facility.

rselak@tribtoday.com