We are focused on protecting the health and well-being of our employees, contractors, vendors and customers.
To do that, we have both an ArcelorMittal North America and ArcelorMittal Dofasco Coronavirus Covid-19 Task Force with key members of leadership and subject matter experts. Our team in Hamilton has been meeting daily since March 12 and continues to identify and address the impact of the global pandemic to both our people and the business. We have kept our focus on communicating with our employees, contractors, customers and suppliers, all while following the guidance of the Governments of Canada and Ontario and the Hamilton Public Health Unit.
The latest development is the Government of Ontario’s list of essential businesses that will stay open. Among those are “Businesses that extract, manufacture, process and distribute goods, products, equipment and materials, including businesses that manufacture inputs to other manufacturers (e.g. primary metal/ steel, blow molding, component manufacturers, chemicals, etc. that feed the end-product manufacturer).”
We are operating to ensure we meet the demand for steel, we maintain our assets, and we can resume our normal processes and procedures when the pandemic subsides. In terms of demand, we have had one temporary measure to align production with demand, as we undertook a temporary blow down of No.3 Blast Furnace (5 per cent of slab tons) with necessary precaution to preserve the asset for future production (there are no jobs impacted by this measure).
We also see some critical demand for steel. For example, in Consumer Packaging, where our tinplated steel is used in the packaging of food, and in Industrial Packaging, where our cold roll steel is used in drums and pails utilized for storing and transporting pharmaceutical ingredients, oils for food production, and lacquers for food can production.