Steel Mills

Cliffs: No Supply Risks Linked to Russia-Ukraine War
Written by David Schollaert
March 2, 2022
In a letter to customers this week, Cleveland-Cliffs said it does not expect the geopolitical fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to directly impact the company’s operations. “While we continue to monitor the situation closely, we have not identified any specific elevated risk to our operations at this time,” the company stated.
Cliffs said it will continue to make proactive and periodic evaluations of the risk environment. “In certain cases, we have determined the resulting risk level exceeds our tolerance and initiated negotiations with alternative suppliers and/or sought alternative materials to further mitigate risk.”
Cliffs has a diversified raw materials supply base for most of its inputs. The bulk of its supply chain is sourced outside of the conflict area, and only a small portion comes directly or indirectly from Russia or Ukraine, the company said.
“We continuously work with our suppliers to keep adequate inventories of key raw materials in stock to maintain our production capabilities. At this time, we are comfortable with the stability of our supply chain,” the letter stated.
Cleveland-Cliffs, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a vertically integrated steelmaker and the largest flat-rolled steel and iron ore pellets producer in North America. A primary supplier of steel to the North American automotive industry, Cliffs employs 26,000 workers across its U.S. and Canada operations.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Mills

USW seeks clarity on USS plans for Granite City Works
The United Steelworkers union has asked U.S. Steel to elaborate on its Granite City Works plans following reports that the steelmaker is ending processing at the facility.

Nucor maintains plate prices, opens October order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat for a seventh straight month with the opening of its October order book.

ArcelorMittal Mexico to import from sister mills as it works to resume DRI production
ArcelorMittal has partially restarted operations at its direct reduction plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan. An explosion on Aug. 18 rocked the massive steelworks on Mexico’s Pacific coast, impacting production of direct-reduced iron (DRI).

Fall maintenance outages are coming in hot
Labor Day has passed, the sun is starting to set a little earlier each day, and cooler weather has begun to find its way down to many of us across North America. And you know what that means for the steel industry… Fall maintenance outages!

AISI: Domestic steel production ticks up
US raw steel production ticked up in the week ending on Sept. 6 after a decrease the week before, according to the most recent data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).