According to an official press release, Cliffs will wind down productions at Indiana Harbor #4 blast furnace (IH#4) over the next two months. This is the second indefinite closure of a blast furnace at Indiana Harbor in recent years; Indiana Harbor Blast Furnace #3 (IH#3) was indefinitely idled in 2019.

The Indiana Harbor complex’s downstream operations will now be supplied entirely by the No. 7 blast furnace (IH#7). IH#7 recently completed a US$100 million modernization to increase capacity and allow greater use of hot briquetted iron. These improvements will allow the steelmaker to maintain Indiana Harbor’s current ironmaking production levels using fewer furnaces, Cliffs said.

“By concentrating the operation and maximizing productivity at IH#7 we are improving our carbon footprint and, at the same time, lowering our cost structure for the same level of steel production and shipments,” Cleveland-Cliffs chairman, president and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves remarked.

Read more here.