Steel Mills
Goncalves says Cliffs still has interest in USS buy
Written by Ethan Bernard
April 26, 2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. would still be interested in acquiring some or all of U.S. Steel’s assets if the proposed deal by Nippon Steel stumbles, according to an article in Bloomberg.
“If possible I will buy the entire thing, but my interest is laser-focused on the union-represented assets, 100%,” Cliffs’ Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves told Bloomberg in a phone interview on Thursday.
In December, Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. (NSC) said it would acquire Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel in a deal valued at more than $14 billion. Though a majority of U.S. Steel shareholders voted in favor of the deal earlier this month, hurdles remain.
The United Steelworkers (USW) union has opposed the buy, as have several US politicians, including President Biden. In addition, the deal faces regulatory hurdles at both the Department of Justice and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
“We are grateful that the US government shares the same view we have always had about the importance of union jobs for a thriving middle class in America,” Goncalves said in a Q1’24 earnings call on Tuesday. “The Biden administration has different ways to terminate the Nippon transaction and we believe that will be done sooner rather than later.”
Goncalves said that before Biden came out against the deal, “We attempted to offer a solution to Nippon Steel.”
He noted that in this scenario Cliffs would acquire the union-represented assets of U.S. Steel and Nippon would keep “the assets they wanted in the first place, the non-union Big River steel facility (in Osceola, Ark.).”
“Nippon did not accept that,” Goncalves said.
Requests for comment from Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel were not returned by time of publication. NSC declined to comment on Goncalves’ comments following Cliffs’ earnings call.
Ethan Bernard
Read more from Ethan BernardLatest in Steel Mills
AHMSA opens doors to potential buyers as $1.3B asset auction nears
AHMSA is opening its doors to potential buyers to tour its steel plant and mining operations in northern Mexico in preparation for the next stage of its bankruptcy process: the auction of its assets.
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!