Industrial giant United States Steel (NYSE:X) is closing its Fairfield Works mill in Birmingham, Alabama, putting more than a thousand jobs at risk.
A plant next door to the factory will continue to produce steel pipe, US Steel said.
"We have made some difficult decisions over the last year as part of our portfolio optimization," said Mario Longhi, the chief executive officer of US Steel.
Longhi claimed the closure was prompted by a new to improve the efficiency and cost structure of the company's rolled-steel segment.
Although the blast furnace at Fairfield will bite the dust, US Steel said construction of the electronic arc furnace (EAF) at the site will continue.
The EAF technology is more economical than the blast furnace process.
At its peak, during the second world war, the Fairfield Works employed more than 40,000 people.