Company Announcements
August 21, 2026
Cliffs hosts US VP Vance at Middletown, touts $1B improvement plans
Written by Ethan Bernard
Cleveland-Cliffs said the US Department of Energy (DOE) has established a framework for Cliffs to finalize negotiations and implementation plans for a major investment at its Middletown Works in Ohio. The framework rescopes the previously awarded $500 million DOE grant.
The Cleveland-based steelmaker hosted Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday to discuss the project.
As previously reported, the US Department of Energy had awarded a $500 million grant to Cliffs for its Middletown Works. The total planned optimization project for the operation stands at $1 billion, with the other $500 million provided by Cliffs.
This investment is expected to begin in the coming weeks and to take place over the next four years. Completion of the blast furnace rebuild at Middletown is planned for the first quarter of 2030.
Goncalves touts investment
“Cleveland-Cliffs is making a decisive investment in the future of American steelmaking and manufacturing, going above and beyond a standard blast furnace reline, to include the most advanced technology available,” Cliffs Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement.
He noted that the DOE’s support for this project is a “testament to the importance of preserving the blast furnace route to produce automotive exposed-grade steels in the US, while advancing American energy dominance.”
Nuts and bolts
The Middletown plant produces automotive-grade steels that are well suited to exposed parts of cars, trucks, and SUVs. It currently produces ~3 million tons of raw steel annually.
The Middletown Works investment includes “state-of-the-art upgrades” to its blast furnace, advanced material handling infrastructure, and artificial intelligence-enabled process control technologies, Cliffs said.
The company added that a key component of the project is the construction of “an advanced cogeneration facility that will capture and utilize blast furnace gas to generate electricity and steam for on-site consumption.”
This will improve overall energy efficiency and lower operating costs, Cliffs said, as well as reduce its reliance on externally supplied electricity.
“This investment strengthens domestic steelmaking, preserves 2,300 jobs, and ensures that Middletown Works remains one of the premier steelmaking facilities in North America for decades to come,” Goncalves said.
US Secretary of Energy Christopher Wright also participated, alongside Vance and numerous federal and state elected officials from Ohio.
