Steel Mills
Cliffs plans to idle three mills, cut 950 jobs on 'insufficient demand and pricing'
Written by Michael Cowden
May 2, 2025
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to indefinitely idle its steel mill in Riverdale, Ill., as well as mills in Conshohocken, Pa., and Steelton, Pa.
The Cleveland-based steelmaker said all three facilities would be idled on or around June 30. Approximately 950 jobs will be impacted, the company said.
The idlings “are a necessary response to insufficient demand and pricing for the products the affected facilities produce, including rail, specialty plate, and high-carbon sheet; all of which fall outside of Cliffs’ core business focus,” the company said in a statement emailed to SMU on Friday, May 2.
“Cliffs’ flat-rolled steel production levels will not be impacted by these actions,” the company added.
Cliffs also stressed that the idlings were not because of steel tariffs.
Steelton, near Harrisburg, Pa., makes rails. Conshohocken is a plate finishing facility near Philadelphia. And Riverdale, outside of Chicago, is a compact strip mill.
Riverdale is notable because it sources hot metal from Cliffs’ steel mill in East Chicago, Ind. Cliffs rails the metal across the border into Illinois on specialty torpedo cars.
The latest idlings at Cliffs come after the company in March announced plans to idle steelmaking operations at its Dearborn Works in Michigan because of weak automotive demand. That idling is expected to result in approximately 600 jobs losses.
The company also announced plans in March to idle portions of its mining operations in Minnesota. Those cuts are expected to cost approximately 630 jobs.
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 […]