Cleveland-Cliffs Idling Steel Plant, Mining Sites as Auto Orders Slow

March 25, 2025

Combined, the moves will mean laying off about 1,200 workers by summer.

Facing a slowdown among their large automotive clients, the leaders of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. have in recent days said they will idle two plants in Minnesota and another in Michigan and lay off roughly 1,200 workers.

Set to be temporarily closed are Cliffs’ steel plant in Dearborn, near Detroit, as well as facilities in Hibbing and Virginia in northern Minnesota that make pellets. In Michigan, Bloomberg news reported that Cliffs will begin laying off employees in July; reports from Minnesota say the company will let people go by late May. The 1,200 workers affected account for about 4% of the company’s U.S. labor force as of the end of last year.

Company officials say that the moves in both states are focused on adjusting capacity as auto manufacturers slow their production pace. Spokeswoman Patricia Persico told Bloomberg that a blast furnace at Cliffs’ Cleveland Works will return to operation this summer to offset the Dearborn idling and that the company plans to restart activities at the plants being idled once President Donald Trump has implemented his trade policies.

Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has been a vocal supporter of the Trump administration’s efforts to use tariffs in favor of U.S. steel production. At the same time, he last year beefed up his exposure to Canadian product by buying Stelco Holdings Inc.—a move that also diversified Cliffs away from the auto sector.

A month ago, Goncalves reported a fourth-quarter loss of more than $430 million—which he blamed partly on lower U.S. auto production—but said orders had begun to turn nicely early this year.

Still, the market for cars remains murky. General Motors Corp. CFO Paul Jacobson said in late January that “there’s just been so much noise with the retail environment,” which was leading him and CEO Mary Barra to be cautious with their 2025 sales and profit guidance.

Analysts at S&P Global said late last month they see “mild growth prospects” of only 1% for U.S. auto sales in 2025. At the same time, they said prices should fall slightly. That forecast came after many consumers rushed to buy vehicles late last year, seeking to avoid potential price increases caused by tariffs. In both November and December, the annualized pace of total vehicle sales topped 17 million—after having been at 16.3 million or below from May through September.

About the Author

Geert De Lombaerde | Senior Editor

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s and writes about public companies, markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications, focusing on IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World and Healthcare Innovation. He also curates the twice-monthly Market Moves Strategy newsletter that showcases Endeavor stories on strategy, leadership and investment and contributes to other Market Moves newsletters.

With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati in 1997, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in early 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic more than fivefold before joining Endeavor in September 2021.