Cleveland Cliffs Inc (CLF)

[Saving Grace]

Cliffs also is developing pig iron, he told attendees, which is in demand by electric arc furnace (EAF) mini mills. A blast furnace is needed melt iron ore and combine it with coke and limestone to produce the high-carbon product. Goncalves said he had hoped to produce it in Minnesota but indicated the state didn’t provide sufficient support.

“I can’t wait for you. I’m not going to stand around just talking. I need action. So while I was being pushed back, I went another route,” he said. It entails feeding high-grade Minnesota pellets into an Ohio blast furnace that’s currently idle. Several years from now, Goncalves predicted, Cliffs will supply more product to mini-mills than to steelmakers that use blast furnaces.

http://www.businessnorth.com/daily_briefing/cliffs-hopes-to-re-open-utac-this-year-broaden-product/article_ea5343b8-f138-11e5-8251-e76720c8e5e8.html