The largest U.S.-based steel maker United States Steel Corp. announced on Tuesday that it was temporarily halting operations in Canada and laying-off 1,500 workers due to adverse market conditions.

The company stated that in a matter of weeks, production will be halted in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ontario and some of the work will be transferred to plants in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Alabama, U.S. Steel said.

In November United States Steel had announced 675 layoffs in North America and idling three plants temporarily, affecting about 3,500 workers. Erin DiPietro, a company spokeswoman said that the terminations announced today are in addition to the earlier ones.

On February 27, Purchasing Magazine said that average price of hot-rolled steel sheet, the benchmark product used in cars and other appliances fell to $499 a ton last month from $514 in January.

Tuesday, shares of U.S. Steel rose 33 cents, or about 2 percent, to close the regular session at $17.21. After a few hours, the stock climbed up 4 cents to $17.25.