BIRMINGHAM – U.S. Steel Corp. officials have confirmed a delay in plans for a $450 million plant in Alabama’s Black Belt.

The project would have produced an alternative to the steelmaking material of coke and created as many as 235 jobs in rural Sumter County.

U.S. Steel spokesman John Armstrong said the timing had to be adjusted because of the economic slowdown but stressed that it has not been scrapped.

He said there is no specified time when U.S. Steel will start work on the project.

Construction on the initial 450,000-square-foot facility was supposed to start this year on a 360-acre site near the town of Epes.

Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel was to initially invest $150 million and create 75 jobs at the start.

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Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews