Cleveland-Cliffs is undertaking significant operational reductions, including the full or partial idling of six facilities, impacting approximately 2,000 employees. Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves stated these actions are necessary to move away from loss-making operations and improve the company's financial standing, following an "unacceptable" first quarter with a $174 million adjusted EBITDA net loss and a $483 million net loss.
The idlings encompass the Minorca Mine and a partial idling of Hibbing Taconite Co. in Minnesota, affecting around 515 United Steelworkers (USW) members and salaried employees, with expected savings of $20 million. Other facilities being idled include a blast furnace at the Dearborn Works steel mill in Michigan, the Steelton, Pa., rail facility, the Conshohocken, Pa., plate finishing facility, and the Riverdale, Ill., compact strip mill facility. Goncalves indicated these moves are aimed at streamlining Cliffs' portfolio by exiting non-core markets such as rail, high-carbon sheet, and specialty plate products, and are projected to save the company $300 million annually.
Despite an increase in Section 232 tariffs to 50%, Cliffs will not restart tinplate production at its Weirton, W.Va., mill, which was idled in 2024 due to import competition. The Steelton rail mill will also be idled by June 30 due to imports accounting for up to half of the U.S. market share. Goncalves also scrapped plans for a hydrogen project at the Middletown, Ohio, mill, despite a $500 million government grant, and will no longer deploy capital to a planned transformer production facility in Weirton, W.Va. Furthermore, a steel slab contract with ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel Calvert will be terminated, expected to add an approximate $500 million annual benefit to the company's annualized EBITDA.
