Ontario Construction News staff writer
Algoma Steel Inc. says it is poised to become the “greenest” flat-rolled steel producer in Canada after the Government of Canada announced $420 million in financial support.
Funding is expected to flow over four years and will support thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Sault Ste. Marie and Ontario to ensure green steel products are available for inclusion in automobiles, consumer products, and renewed infrastructure that utilizes Algoma steel.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Sault Ste. Marie on Monday to make the funding announcement.
The conversion is expected to create about 500 construction jobs, but the union representing current steel plant workers is concerned that the long-term job loss will be much greater.
“With new state of the art equipment, Algoma Steel will transition to electric arc furnace production, giving them an even greater competitive edge over imported steel,” Trudeau said. “That’s not just good for business — that’s good for the environment.”
Algoma Steel’s proposed EAF transformation has the potential to reduce Algoma Steel’s carbon emissions by approximately 70 per cent, making the project among the lowest-cost-per-tonne of GHG reduction in Canada.
When combined with Ontario’s low-carbon power, Algoma Steel will be positioned as the “greenest” producer of flat-rolled steel in Canada, and among the greenest in North America.
Christian Provenzano, mayor of Sault Ste. Marie, said Algoma is an integral part of the city’s history.
“Many of us here in Sault Ste. Marie can trace our history, our families’ stories, directly or indirectly, to the operation of this steel plant,” Provenzano said. “My family would not be here but if for Algoma Steel. It has been the economic life blood of this community for well over a century.”
Michael McQuade, CEO of Algoma Steel said the funds will help lead Canada to a “net-zero” economy.
“And (it’s) so very important as we look to make our proposed transformation to EAF steelmaking a reality,” McQuade said in the release.
However, the union representing 2,700 workers at the steel plant isn’t so excited about the plans, fearing major job losses in the traditional coal-fired steel plant.
“If this is helping Canada meet some kind of target, what about the people that are involved and working in the coal-fired process? Who decided this was OK?” asked Mike Da Prat, president of United Steelworkers (USW) local 2251. “It’s nice that there’s 500 jobs for people in construction (of the electric furnaces) but what about the employees of Algoma?”
Da Prat expressed concerns that the small northern Ontario city will have to bear a lopsided burden for Canada’s carbon-reduction goals.
The National Post reported the union leaders as being worried about what will happen in five years or so when the conversion is finished and all the coal-fired facilities are shut down. Because the electric-arc plants require fewer people to run and need less maintenance, the net loss of jobs at the company itself — based on plans outlined in Monday’s announcement — could be in the hundreds, he was quoted as saying..