Steel Mills

Cliffs Begins Demolition of Ashland Works

Written by David Schollaert

February 8, 2022

Cleveland-Cliffs’ Ashland Works, once the lifeblood of four-generations of residents in the Kentucky community, is now a pile of rubble.

The steel mill had operated for the better part of 100 years on the Ohio River. Its Amanda blast furnace was decomissioned in 2015. And the entire mill was permanently closed in 2019, shortly before Cleveland-Cliffs acquired AK Steel.

Despite initial discussions and speculation about restarting the mill to produce pig iron, ultimately the decision was made by CEO Lourenco Goncalves to raze the facility.

Though it remains unclear what the future holds for the site, the demolition is a cash positive project for the Cleveland-based steelmaker.

Cliffs did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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