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Released February 26, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Cleveland-Cliffs Incorporated (NYSE:CLF) (Cleveland, Ohio) expects about $700 million in capital expenditures (capex) this year, down from $800 million in 2024, as the steel producer has wrapped up a number of major projects, company executives said Tuesday.
Cleveland-Cliffs is earmarking $500 million for projects within its traditional footprint this year; $100 million for its recently acquired Stelco business in Canada, and $100 million for large projects at the Middletown Steel Works in Ohio, Butler Steel Works in Pennsylvania and the Weirton site in West Virginia, said Chief Executive Lourenco Goncalves during the company's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call.
Industrial Info is tracking two large projects at the 2.7 million-ton-per-year Middletown Steel Works, including a planned green hydrogen, direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant addition and an electric melt furnaces addition. As part of a conversion project, Cleveland-Cliffs would construct a hydrogen-ready, flex-fuel DRI plant to replace blast furnace operations to further decarbonize its steel projects. Goncalves noted that the plant also will be able to run on natural gas, a fuel with which he is "more comfortable."
The company also plans to construct two 120-megawatt (MW) electric melt furnaces at the steel works. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for the DRI plant project report and click here for the electric melt furnaces project report.
At the 1 million-ton-per-year Butler Steel Works, Cleveland-Cliffs plans to replace two natural gas-fired, high-temperature slab reheat furnaces with four electrified induction furnaces to improve production efficiency. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
At the Weirton site, the company plans to renovate a former steel plant to produce distribution transformers to support electric power distribution systems. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
For full-year 2024, Cleveland-Cliffs reported an adjusted net loss of $351 million, compared to net income of $450 million in 2023.
Goncalves said the results in 2024 were the result of the weakest steel demand environment since 2010, with the exception of the years during the COVID pandemic.
"For the first time, the number of cars sold in the United States that were produced abroad and imported into the United States surpassed the number of cars sold that were produced domestically," he said in a press release. "With this decline in domestic automotive production, and too much imported steel from abroad that drove unsustainably low steel prices, Cliffs was deeply impacted."
The situation led to the indefinite idling of the C6 blast furnace late last year at the company's Cleveland Works in Ohio, Goncalves said. The blast furnace is capable of producing more than 1.5 million tons per year of steel.
He blamed the influx of imported steel on government-subsidized overseas producers, and lauded the Trump administration's plan to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel. The tariff is necessary to support domestic consumption of steel, Goncalves said.
Looking forward, "2024 is in the rear view mirror," and things are looking up, Goncalves said. "Our cash use in the fourth quarter, due largely to inventory build, has set us up nicely for the rebound we are seeing so far in 2025."
Subscribers can click here for the project reports mentioned in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
Cleveland-Cliffs is earmarking $500 million for projects within its traditional footprint this year; $100 million for its recently acquired Stelco business in Canada, and $100 million for large projects at the Middletown Steel Works in Ohio, Butler Steel Works in Pennsylvania and the Weirton site in West Virginia, said Chief Executive Lourenco Goncalves during the company's fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call.
Industrial Info is tracking two large projects at the 2.7 million-ton-per-year Middletown Steel Works, including a planned green hydrogen, direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant addition and an electric melt furnaces addition. As part of a conversion project, Cleveland-Cliffs would construct a hydrogen-ready, flex-fuel DRI plant to replace blast furnace operations to further decarbonize its steel projects. Goncalves noted that the plant also will be able to run on natural gas, a fuel with which he is "more comfortable."
The company also plans to construct two 120-megawatt (MW) electric melt furnaces at the steel works. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for the DRI plant project report and click here for the electric melt furnaces project report.
At the 1 million-ton-per-year Butler Steel Works, Cleveland-Cliffs plans to replace two natural gas-fired, high-temperature slab reheat furnaces with four electrified induction furnaces to improve production efficiency. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
At the Weirton site, the company plans to renovate a former steel plant to produce distribution transformers to support electric power distribution systems. Subscribers can click here for the project report.
For full-year 2024, Cleveland-Cliffs reported an adjusted net loss of $351 million, compared to net income of $450 million in 2023.
Goncalves said the results in 2024 were the result of the weakest steel demand environment since 2010, with the exception of the years during the COVID pandemic.
"For the first time, the number of cars sold in the United States that were produced abroad and imported into the United States surpassed the number of cars sold that were produced domestically," he said in a press release. "With this decline in domestic automotive production, and too much imported steel from abroad that drove unsustainably low steel prices, Cliffs was deeply impacted."
The situation led to the indefinite idling of the C6 blast furnace late last year at the company's Cleveland Works in Ohio, Goncalves said. The blast furnace is capable of producing more than 1.5 million tons per year of steel.
He blamed the influx of imported steel on government-subsidized overseas producers, and lauded the Trump administration's plan to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel. The tariff is necessary to support domestic consumption of steel, Goncalves said.
Looking forward, "2024 is in the rear view mirror," and things are looking up, Goncalves said. "Our cash use in the fourth quarter, due largely to inventory build, has set us up nicely for the rebound we are seeing so far in 2025."
Subscribers can click here for the project reports mentioned in this article and click here for the related plant profiles.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
