Cliffs 4Q steel output to drop on outages

US integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs will cut fourth quarter production by 300,000 short tons as it moves forward planned outages to better time output with an expected recovery in auto demand in the first quarter of 2022.

Maintenance breaks will occur in the fourth quarter at both blast furnaces at the 5mn short ton/yr integrated Burns Harbor, Indiana, mill and the hot end at the 2.2mn st/yr blast furnace at the Dearborn, Michigan, mill. Those outages were previously planned for 2022, said chief financial officer Celso Goncalves.

"These outages are being accelerated to this year in anticipation of a strong automotive recovery in 2022," Goncalves said.

The outages are on top of Cleveland-Cliffs' other 45-day outage at the 4.63mn st/yr Indiana Harbor No. 7 blast furnace, the largest in the US, that began on 1 September.

Additionally, integrated steelmaker US Steel is taking a 38-day outage at its 1.36mn st/yr No. 6 blast furnace at its Gary Works in Indiana that began on 30 September while electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker Nucor is taking an outage at 1.6mn st/yr Gallatin, Kentucky, flat-rolled mill beginning at the end of November.

The US hot-rolled coil (HRC) market has faltered recently as supply has outstripped demand, with the Argus US HRC Midwest assessment falling on 19 October for the Midwest by $25/st to $1,925/st, while the southern HRC assessment dropping by $35/st to $1,915/st.

By Rye Druzin