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Cliffs Natural Resources Picks Site for HBI Plant
06/15/2017 - Iron ore miner Cliffs Natural Resources said it will invest US$700 million in a hot-briquetted iron plant close to the southwestern shore of Lake Erie.
In an announcement Thursday, Cliffs said the HBI plant will use Midrex technology and will be capable of producing 1.6 million tons annually.
“Today’s announcement marks a very important strategic milestone for Cliffs as we begin to implement our plans to be the sole producer of high-quality HBI for the electric arc furnace steel market in the Great Lakes region. We look forward to the strong margin and earnings potential this new product will generate for Cliffs shareholders,” chairman and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement.
Cliffs intends to build the plant on a Toledo, Ohio, brownfield property along the Maumee River, which empties into Lake Erie.
The property is part of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority’s Ironville Terminal, which once was a Gulf Oil refinery.
Cliffs said the site is ideal because it is close to potential customers and has access to affordable natural gas supplies and rail lines. Additionally, local and state officials are providing Cliffs with US$30 million in grants and other financial incentives.
Cliffs also is in discussions with several passive financial partners.
The company said it hopes to break ground early next year and begin commercial production by the middle of 2020.
“Today’s announcement marks a very important strategic milestone for Cliffs as we begin to implement our plans to be the sole producer of high-quality HBI for the electric arc furnace steel market in the Great Lakes region. We look forward to the strong margin and earnings potential this new product will generate for Cliffs shareholders,” chairman and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement.
Cliffs intends to build the plant on a Toledo, Ohio, brownfield property along the Maumee River, which empties into Lake Erie.
The property is part of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority’s Ironville Terminal, which once was a Gulf Oil refinery.
Cliffs said the site is ideal because it is close to potential customers and has access to affordable natural gas supplies and rail lines. Additionally, local and state officials are providing Cliffs with US$30 million in grants and other financial incentives.
Cliffs also is in discussions with several passive financial partners.
The company said it hopes to break ground early next year and begin commercial production by the middle of 2020.
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