Steel is the backbone of modern life and a catalyst for a robust and sustainable economy. Cleveland-Cliffs’ steel is an important material to support American manufacturing and supply chains. We produce steel more sustainably than imported steel from heavier polluting nations. The Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity of our integrated mills is 27% lower than the global GHG average.
In 2020, we completed the world's most advanced direct reduction facility. This natural-gas-based plant produces hot-briquetted iron (HBI), an environmentally friendly alternative to imported pig iron used in the steelmaking process.
State-of-the-art by every measure, our Toledo facility is the most modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly Direct Reduction Plant in the world.
More About Toledo Direct Reduction PlantIn 2017, we completed a $75 million capital investment project at our United Taconite operation to produce a newly developed superflux iron ore pellet. A flux iron ore pellet has increased levels of mainly CaO (calcium oxide or limestone) in comparison to a standard pellet. In a steelmaking blast furnace, limestone is added to control the chemistry of the slag.
Flux pellets allow blast furnace operators to significantly decrease their coke rate and flux stone usage versus standard pellets. A flux pellet will have higher melting properties in the blast furnace which means it converts from a solid-state to a liquid state at a faster rate. This improved melting performance has a positive impact on iron production and helps reduce the high energy costs of operating a blast furnace. Calculations show that coke use decreases by approximately 7% and limestone use is virtually eliminated when using flux pellets in a blast furnace.
Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) is a high-quality metallic product (~90% pure iron) produced by the direct reduction of iron oxide at a temperature below the fusion point of iron. It is primarily used in electric arc furnaces (EAF) but can also be used by blast furnaces and other iron and steelmaking applications.
Using our technical expertise to increase product offerings, we developed a new product line, DR-grade pellets, for feedstock in DRI production. In 2019, we completed a capital upgrade to produce low silica DR-grade pellets on a commercial scale at our Northshore Mining facility in Minnesota. It is the only facility in the U.S. capable of producing both DR-grade and regular blast furnace iron ore pellets. It produces pellet feedstock inventory for Cliffs’ Hot Briquetted Iron Plant in Toledo, OH, which began operations in 2020.
Producing steel using HBI requires significantly less energy than traditional steelmaking processes and reduces indirect downstream Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. HBI can be added to a blast furnace or paired with an electric arc furnace. HBI will substantially improve energy efficiency and reduce Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50% for the natural gas-based MIDREX® Direct Reduction Process paired with an electric arc furnace.
Natural gas and DR-grade iron oxide pellets are the only raw materials used in the HBI process. No hazardous or toxic byproducts are generated from the process. Water recycling initiatives conserve water use and minimize discharges.
