Cleveland-Cliffs shuts down three plants in the US

The American steel company Cleveland-Cliffs has announced plans to indefinitely shut down three of its facilities in Riverdale, Illinois, and Conshohocken and Stilton, Pennsylvania. All three sites will cease operations around June 30, 2025, which could result in the loss of about 950 jobs. This was reported by SMU.

The company explained that this is a forced decision dictated by low demand and prices for specialized products such as rails, high-hardness sheets and products with special chemical compositions. These products are not part of Cleveland-Cliffs’ core business, which focuses on flat products. At the same time, the company emphasized that the overall level of flat products production will not change.

Cleveland-Cliffs clarified that the shutdowns are not related to steel import duties. The shutdowns include the Stilton plant, which produces rails; Conshohocken, a sheet finishing facility near Philadelphia; and Riverdale, which receives liquid iron from the plant in East Chicago, Indiana, via special railcars.

This is not the first such action by the company in 2025. In March, Cliffs halted steel production at Dearborn Works in Michigan due to weak demand from the auto industry, resulting in the loss of about 600 jobs. It also announced a reduction in mining operations in Minnesota, which will affect another 630 employees.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Cleveland-Cliffs reduced its external steel sales by 5% year-on-year – to 15.6 million short tons in 2024. In particular, hot-rolled steel accounted for 36% of the decrease. Revenue from steel production for the year amounted to $18.5 billion. Sales to direct customers in the automotive industry accounted for approximately $5.6 billion, or 30%.