Steel Mills

Cliffs Expected to Take 80-90 Day Outage on Cleveland No. 5 Furnace: Sources
Written by Michael Cowden
February 9, 2022
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is expected to take an approximately 80-90 day planned outage on the No. 5 blast furnace at its Cleveland Works starting in mid to late March, according to market participants.
The outage is expected to last until roughly mid-June. It is not expected to impact customers because the Cleveland-based steelmaker can stock slabs ahead of the outage and transfer orders to other mills as necessary, sources said.
Cliffs did not respond to requests for comment for this article. But the company said on its third-quarter earnings call that it planned an approximately $100 million upgrade and reline of the No. 5 furnace.
That work will allow Cliffs to charge more hot-briquetted iron (HBI) from its plant in Toledo, Ohio, into the furnace as well as increase its ability to use natural gas.
Cliffs is increasing use of HBI in its blast furnaces and of prime scrap in its basic oxygen furnaces to reduce its need for coke and to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with the coking process.
Cleveland has two furnaces: No. 5 and No. 6. The former has daily iron-making capacity of 4,350 tons and the latter daily capacity of 4,150 tons, according to SMU’s blast furnace status table.
Market reaction to the news was muted. Steel is readily available amid short lead times and falling prices, and so even an extended outage is not expected to create any big waves in the market, sources said.
That’s a sharp change from a year ago, when even brief outages could cause near panic amid soaring prices, lean inventories and extremely limited availability from domestic mills, some noted.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Mills

August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.

TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.

Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.

AISI: Raw steel production ticks back down
US raw steel output declined last week after increasing the week prior, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Output has see-sawed from week to week since mid-August. Still, it has remained historically strong over the past four months and has held near multi-year highs since June. Domestic mills […]