Cliffs CEO sets conditions for Dearborn restart, warns on Stelco coating lines

Meanwhile, Goncalves cheered Section 232 measures in the US. He noted they have received broad support from both Republican and Democratic administrations.

“Section 232 has been the single most effective industrial policy implemented in our country in a generation,” he said. “The reshoring movement that’s now occurring throughout American manufacturing simply would not be happening at its current scale without Section 232.”

Goncalves made the comments during an earnings conference call on Thursday.

Hamilton coating ops on the line

Cliffs has been pleased to see the extension of Canada’s tariff-rate quota (TRQ) system through June 2027. Canada, like the US, has acted to fend off global overcapacity in steelmaking. But more needs to be done, Goncalves said.

“While we have seen improvements on the hot-rolled side, which is the vast majority of what we do in Canada, the finishing side at Stelco is lagging,” he said. “Without further measures to protect fair trade in Canada, the future competitiveness of our galvanizing lines at Hamilton is at risk.”

Cliffs acquired Stelco in 2024. The Canadian steelmaker has operations Nanticoke, Ontario, and Hamilton, Ontario. Steelmaking operations long ago ceased at Hamilton, which now sources substrate from Nanticoke. But Hamilton’s automotive-quality “Z-line,” which makes galvanized and galvannealed products, remains in operation.

Dearborn restart hinges on more auto tons

As for Dearborn, the question is not having the right trade policy incentives in place but whether automakers act on them. “The more automotive moves production to the United States, the more we are going to get closer to bringing back Dearborn,” Goncalves said.

Material substitution is also a factor. “The more they replace aluminum with steel, which they are doing in a very consistent way since the competition set themselves on fire. … the closer we get there,” Goncalves said.

The fire Goncalves mentioned is likely a reference to a Novelis aluminum rolling mill in Oswego, N.Y. The facility, a key supplier to the automotive sector, suffered multiple fires last year.

Will auto reshore more?

Automakers have not committed to reshoring under the Trump administration with the same vigor they embraced electric vehicles (EVs) under the Biden administration, Goncalves claimed. “If they had applied half their conviction on electric vehicles to reshore production in the United States, Dearborn would be back,” he said.

Goncalves also brushed aside the notion customers were struggling with long lead times and that returning Dearborn to full production could alleviate the supply squeeze. “We are comfortable with what we have right now, with the situation we are seeing right now,” he said. “Maybe the clients are not comfortable. They’re tight. … But there’s an easy solution. They need to give me the conviction that I can bring a blast furnace back.”

The Dearborn furnace has capacity of more than 2 million tons per year. Cliffs idled it in July 2025. But Goncalves a month later told workers at Dearborn, which are represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, that the company would bring back idled production “as soon as we can.”

First, however, automakers must promise to remain in the US and not return production to Mexico or Canada. They should also stop importing steel from South Korea and producing vehicles there. “I hate all these things. I want to produce cars in the United Sates, employ Americans,” Goncalves said.

USW talks on track

Speaking of workers, Goncalves said labor contract talks with the United Steelworkers (USW) union had gotten oof to a “constructive and productive start.”

“Based on the dialogue to date, we are confident that we can reach an agreement that strengthens our partnership and delivers meaningful benefits to for both Cliffs and the USW,” he said.

The current contract between the USW and Cliffs, like that between the USW and U.S. Steel, expires on Sept. 1.

Not all Cliffs mills are represented by the USW. The UAW and Cliffs, for example, negotiated a four-year labor contract at Dearborn in 2024. That pact doesn’t expire until July 31, 2028.

Relines on the horizon

Cliffs plans to reline one of the blast furnaces at its Burns Harbor steelmaking campus in northwest Indiana. The facility has two blast furnaces. Goncalves did not specify which was due for a reline.

Also, the blast furnace at the company’s Middletown Works in Ohio is due for a reline, but not until 2030. That work will be funded in part by a US Department of Energy grant. It will allow for the installation of equipment to capture blast furnace gas and use it to generate electricity on site.

“We expect to make a public announcement in the next month or so,” Goncalves said.