PALMER, MI-- About 350 workers at the Empire mine are off until the fall.
Cliffs Natural Resources says the workers are laid off until October while the mine is temporarily shut down. Officials attribute the stoppage to historic levels of foreign steel imports, which represent about 34 percent of the finished steel market.
Laid-off employees will be able to file for unemployment benefits.
Cliffs says it’s monitoring the steel market. If conditions improve the Empire may reopen sooner.