Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) announced today that based on current market conditions, the Company will be temporarily idling production at two of its iron ore mining operations, Northshore Mining in Minnesota and Tilden Mine in Michigan. Cleveland-Cliffs stated that it will work down current inventory levels from these two operations and will continue to ship iron ore to fulfill its commercial agreements with steel customers.
Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We have evaluated market conditions and the extraordinary disruptions in manufacturing and steel production in North America due to the impact of the COVID-19 market shock. As our steel customers rationalize their operations’ capacities, we made the decision to adjust our iron ore production during the first half of the year and not continue to build additional iron ore inventory until market conditions improve. Once the North American steel market improves, Cleveland-Cliffs will be able to quickly restart and ramp up production.”
The Company stated that unless business circumstances change, it plans to temporarily idle production at Northshore mine by mid-April with a planned restart by August 2020, and Tilden mine will be temporarily idled by the end of April with a planned restart in July 2020.
State Representative Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette) had the following to say:
“We knew the idling of the Tilden Mine was a possibility when the auto manufacturers announced their temporary shutdown and shift to making ventilators in late March. Understanding the effect this announcement has on other industries like rail, shipping, natural gas and other supply chain industries is a serious economic concern for my district and the entire U.P. economy. State legislators must start immediate discussions with all mining, steel and auto manufacturing stakeholders to coordinate how we can best help and safely get them back in operation in order to put people back to work.”
The challenge of balancing the safety of constituents and keeping the economy running has been difficult, Cambensy said. However, she feels the precautions taken to stay home and safely distance ourselves from one another to lessen the toll of the Covid-19 virus has paid off for U.P. residents.
“We have done a great job of keeping the virus at bay in the U.P. We still must be diligent in doing so. But not finding a way to safely operate and bring back our key industries in the state would also be a serious long-term loss. By increasing testing for the Coronavirus in the U.P. workforce who are associated with critical infrastructure industries, maintaining safe distancing and increasing sanitization of these workplaces, we can responsibly handle the virus while keeping our economy moving forward.”
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