Jan 6, 2015 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – U.S. Steel said Tuesday it will lay off about 750 employees from two plants that make tubular steel, which is used in oil and gas drilling.

The company said it will shut down a plant in Lorain, Ohio, in March and lay off 614 workers. It said the move is temporary. U.S. Steel also will lay off 142 employees who work at a plant in Houston.

The plants make steel pipes and tubes used in drilling for oil and gas as well as construction. The Pittsburgh company said it is making the moves in response to falling oil prices and unfair competition from foreign companies.

The price of oil dropped since mid-2014 and is now at its lowest levels in about five years, reducing demand for the pipes and tubes made at the Lorain and Houston plants.

The company stopped work at two tubular steel plants in 2014 and also filed a complaint about unfair competition by foreign companies.

U.S. Steel had about 26,000 employees in North America and 12,500 in Europe at the end of 2013.