Cleveland-Cliffs quietly removes name from Steelton mill

SMU asked about the move and if it might signal that Cliffs is selling the mill. A company spokesperson declined to comment.

In July, the Cleveland-based company said there was already some interest from data center developers in purchasing its recently idled facilities.

Those facilities include Cliffs’ Steelton rail mill; its Riverdale, Ill., compact strip mill; and its plate finishing facility in Conshohocken, Pa. Cliffs announced the indefinite idlings of those plants in May. They took effect in July.

Historic Steelton rail mill

The Steelton mill has a 150-ton DC electric-arc furnace and a three-strand continuous jumbo bloom caster. Its annual capacity is one million short tons of railroad rails, flat bars, and specialty blooms.

The mill dates back more than 150 years, according to the Steelton Historical Society. The Pennsylvania Steel Co. began construction in 1865, with the first steel production in 1867. It operated Bessemer converters before building its first blast furnace in 1872. By 1884, it had four. It began operating an open hearth furnace in 1875.

Bethlehem Steel acquired Pennsylvania Steel in 1917. The blast furnaces operated until 1960, and the open hearth furnaces were replaced with EAFs in 1968. The mill was later owned by the International Steel Group, ArcelorMittal, and now Cleveland-Cliffs.

Remaining US rail mills

The Steelton mill is one of just three rail mills in the US. If any potential buyer chooses to stop producing railroad rails there, just two will remain.

One is Steel Dynamics Inc.’s structural and rail mill in Columbia City, Ind. The other, located in Pueblo, Colo., is now known as Rocky Mountain Steel Mills. Formerly owned by Evraz North America, it has operated as part of Orion Steel Companies since its purchase by private equity firm Atlas Holdings in July.