In a move that says just as much about the state of the steel industry as the automotive industry, Cleveland-Cliffs has confirmed that it will lay off 600 workers from its Dearborn Works facility in Michigan.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the 4th largest steel maker in the United States, and shipped out record volumes to automotive in 2023.
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Less than two years later, it says it will halt parts of its Dearborn operation, including the blast furnace, BOF steel shop and continuous casting facilities – a move that’s being described as a temporary response to the “current reality of weak automotive production in the United States.”
Other parts of the facility will remain active, including the Dearborn pickling and galvanizing lines that employ 550 other workers. The shift, according to a company statement, will allow it “to operate more efficiently and in a more cost competitive way for the current market environment."
The announcement comes tight on the heels of another, where Cleveland-Cliffs said it would temporarily lay off 630 other workers due to the stoppage of two mines in Minnesota – another move being largely pinned on a sluggish automotive industry.
Still, it’s hard to know what the future holds for a steel company that has done a lot of shifting over the years, and is still in wait and see mode. In the statement regarding the Dearborn layoffs, Cleveland-Cliffs sounded bullish on the prospect of its long term growth, hinging on the results of proposed tariffs.
It said, in part:
"We believe that, once President Trump’s policies take full effect and automotive production is re-shored, we should be able to resume steel production at Dearborn Works."
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