U.S. Steel announced Thursday that it will idle its Keetac taconite iron ore operations starting May 13, another victim of the huge glut of global iron ore and steel that''s far outpacing demand.

The company said up to 412 workers at the facility will be affected and that they are being notified.

Some employees will be kept on to maintain the operations, so the exact number of layoffs hasn''t yet been determined, the company said.

Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel said the Keewatin, Minn., plant will be idled indefinitely "due to the company''s current inventory levels and ongoing adjustment of its steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand."

"These ongoing operational adjustments are a result of challenging market conditions that reflect the cyclical nature of the industry," the company said in a statement Thursday. "Global influences in the market, including a high level of imports, unfairly traded products and reduced steel prices, continue to have an impact."

"I am deeply concerned about iron mining in Minnesota, and we have been trying to ring that bell here in St. Paul for years and it''s fallen on deaf ears," Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said Thursday.

He hammered Minnesota regulations, high energy costs and the global market for harming mining on the Iron Range.

While demand for steel in the U.S.

-The 16th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy Exhibition