MIDDLETOWN — Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced a $1 billion investment to upgrade its Middletown Works steel plant, supported by a $500 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
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News Center 7’s John Bedell has spent the day in Middletown. He’ll have the latest on the announcement and more from the Vice President’s remarks tonight on News Center 7 at 5:00 and 6:00.
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Funding for the optimization project will be split equally between Cleveland-Cliffs and the federal government, with expenditures planned over the next four years as the company works on the improvements while maintaining its steel production.
Middletown Works is the company’s flagship plant to produce automotive-grade steels.
The investment will include state-of-the-art upgrades to its blast furnace, advanced material-handling infrastructure, and artificial intelligence-enabled process-control technologies, the company announced.
The company will also build an advanced cogeneration facility to capture and use blast furnace gas to generate electricity and steam. The company said this will improve its energy efficiency and lower operating costs.
The investment is expected to begin in the coming weeks.
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