Coke from Coal used for Steel from Iron
From an Article by Warren Scott, Wheeling Intelligencer, February 12, 2022
PHOTO in ARTICLE ~ Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. officials announced Friday the Mountain State Carbon coke plant in Follansbee soon will close permanently.
FOLLANSBEE — Citing a shift in the materials used to produce steel, officials with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. have announced they will be permanently closing the Mountain State Carbon coke plant in the second business quarter. The plant located in Follansbee employs 288.
Pat Persico, spokesperson for the company, said the move was spurred by the firm’s shift to the use of scrap metal hot briquetted iron in making steel, which produces lower carbon dioxide emissions. Last year the company announced plans to reduce emissions by 20% by 2030.
Persico said, “Fortunately, we anticipate that all impacted employees will have job opportunities at our other nearby facilities.” “We have been recruiting at all of our facilities. Depending on where they want to be, we have many opportunities,” she said. Actually, 12 hourly and three salaried employees will remain at the plant for a time to ensure its closing complies with environmental regulations.
Follansbee City Manager Jack McIntosh, who was called for comment, said, “I feel bad for the families who will be affected.” He said though it appears other jobs will be available to them, they will need to move with their families to fill them, and he is sorry to see residents leaving the city. McIntosh said the absence of a major business such as the coke plant also will impact the city’s budget.
While the plant relied on its own wastewater treatment system, it was one of the city’s largest water users, he said. McIntosh added the plant and the various vendors that supplied it also paid a lot of business and occupation tax to the city. “That affects us all,” he said.
The city manager said while he’s working to estimate the loss, he can say, “there will be budget cuts. We definitely will need to make some.” Staff at Mountain State Carbon and various vendors and contractors working there also have delivered thousands of pounds of food as well as monetary donations to the Follansbee R.E.A.C.H. Program, a local food pantry.
The nation’s largest producer of flat rolled steel and iron ore pellets, Cleveland-Cliffs reported record annual revenue of $20.4 billion and record annual net income of $3 billion for 2021. Cleveland-Cliffs acquired the coke plant and other AK Steel owned facilities in 2020. Over the years, the plant has been owned by Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, R.G. Steel and Severstal North America.
Established in 1917, the plant was a major supplier of steel for the then-emerging auto industry, as well as the military during World War I. Workers at the plant are members of United Steelworkers Local 9545. They had signed a three-year agreement with the plant’s former owner, AK Steel, that is scheduled to expire at the end of April.
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