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Cleveland-Cliffs Eager to Resume HBI Plant Construction
05/12/2020 - Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to resume work on its hot briquetted iron plant as soon as possible to meet anticipated demand, chairman and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said.
Speaking during a conference call to discuss the company’s first-quarter earnings, Goncalves said the COVID-19 automotive production shutdowns have created an unprecedented situation — with no manufacturing taking place, bundled scrap isn’t being generated. Yet, the mini-mills are continuing to consume scrap.
As a result, scrap supplies have tightened considerably, Goncalves said. And because of it, the company expects electric arc furnace producers will be looking for alternatives, such as the hot briquetted iron that the Toledo, Ohio, plant will produce.
Overall, Goncalves said he believes Cleveland-Cliffs will quickly rebound from the COVID-19 shutdowns.
“Although the pandemic effect led to automotive plant shutdowns over the past six weeks, the timing and pace of production restarts as well as consumer sales data have both exceeded our expectations. If the automotive manufacturers continue to restart production as they have indicated to us and already started to do, our operations will normalize throughout the balance of the second quarter, with a fairly strong second half of the year,” he said.
As a result, scrap supplies have tightened considerably, Goncalves said. And because of it, the company expects electric arc furnace producers will be looking for alternatives, such as the hot briquetted iron that the Toledo, Ohio, plant will produce.
Overall, Goncalves said he believes Cleveland-Cliffs will quickly rebound from the COVID-19 shutdowns.
“Although the pandemic effect led to automotive plant shutdowns over the past six weeks, the timing and pace of production restarts as well as consumer sales data have both exceeded our expectations. If the automotive manufacturers continue to restart production as they have indicated to us and already started to do, our operations will normalize throughout the balance of the second quarter, with a fairly strong second half of the year,” he said.
