Cleveland-Cliffs today announced a $1 billion investment, supported by a $500 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) grant, in its Middletown Works steel plant.
The investment is expected to be deployed over the next four years as the company executes on these improvements while maintaining uninterrupted steel production.
Middletown Works is Cleveland-Cliffs’ flagship plant to produce automotive-grade steels, particularly suited to exposed parts of cars, trucks and SUVs. The Middletown Works investment includes upgrades to its blast furnace, advanced material handling infrastructure and artificial intelligence-enabled process control technologies.
A key component of the project is the construction of an advanced cogeneration facility that will capture and utilize blast furnace gas to generate electricity and steam for on-site consumption. This will improve overall energy efficiency, reduce reliance on externally supplied electricity, and lower operating costs. This multi-year investment is expected to commence in the coming weeks, with completion of the blast furnace rebuild planned for the first quarter of 2030.
At peak construction, the project will employ more than 1,500 workers including local union building trades. Middletown Works currently produces approximately 3 million tons of raw steel annually. The optimization project will preserve the facility's steelmaking capacity while substantially improving operational reliability, productivity, energy efficiency, and cost competitiveness.
