Cliffs' Weirton mill set for new role as transformer plant

Cliffs said on Monday that as many as 600 United Steelworkers (USW) union members could be rehired from Weirton’s indefinitely idled tinplate operations.

New life as transformer plant

The company said it was repurposing its Half Moon Warehouse in Weirton. It will make three-phase distribution transformers used in electric power distribution systems.

“These transformers are in short supply, and that shortage stifles economic growth across the country,” Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO, said in a statement.  

He noted that the widespread adoption of AI will “exponentially” increase the consumption of electricity in the US and worldwide.

“The former Weirton site offers significant growth opportunity, with the needed infrastructure in place and a world class highly-trained workforce ready to be deployed,” Goncalves said.

Boost in GOES demand

Cliffs said a recent Department of Energy transformer efficiency standard supports the Weirton investment. The company noted that the standard ensures grain oriented electrical steel (GOES), and not a substitute material, is used to produce transformers domestically.

According to Cliffs, GOES are exclusively produced in the US at its steel mill in Butler, Pa.

The company said that the new plant would generate extra demand for US-made GOES. This additional demand will result in more production of GOES at Butler Works, and the need for more workers there, Cliffs said.

The transformer plant will also consume stainless and carbon steel produced by Cliffs in several of its steel plants in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

Background

Recall that Cliffs indefinitely idled idle tinplate production at its Weirton mill in February. This affected ~900 employees.

The company said the move was necessary after a negative US International Trade Commission (ITC) trade case ruling in February. The ITC decided not to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on tinplate imports from a handful of countries.