Higher steel prices have been benefiting the Region's steel mills.
Hot-rolled band averaged around $675 a ton last fall. The price has risen to around $975 a ton, said United Steelworkers Union Local 6787 Director Pete Trinidad Jr. said.
"The price of steel is up and that's good news for the industry," he said. "It will take four to eight weeks for the value to be added to the steel product."
The prices of steel plate, hot-rolled coil, galvanized steel, pickled steel, heat-treated steel and other steel products made at Cleveland-Cliffs Burns Harbor Works all have risen over the last several months.
"It's a little bit of everything that's driving it: the tariffs, the economy, the infrastructure bill and some other stuff," he said.
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said last year was the most difficult for the domestic steel industry since the pandemic in 2020 due to depressed steel prices. The steelmaker and mining company lost $708 million last year.
