DULUTH – Cleveland-Cliffs is buying ArcelorMittal USA for $1.4 billion in a major steel industry merger that will see Cliffs become the country’s largest flat-rolled steel producer.
“The acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA amplifies our position in the discerning automotive steel marketplace, and further improves our position in important U.S. markets such as construction, appliance, infrastructure, machinery and equipment,” Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement Monday.
The companies had combined shipments of 17 million tons of steel in 2019.
Included in the purchase are control over two Iron Range taconite mines and processing plants, Minorca and HibTac. The move would make also make Cliffs — which also owns Northshore Mining and United Taconite in Minnesota and the Tilden Mine in Michigan — the largest iron ore producer in the country, with 28 million long tons of annual capacity.
Six steel mills, eight finishing plants and three coal and cokemaking facilities will also come under Cliffs’ control.
ArcelorMittal, based in Luxembourg, is the largest steelmaker in the world but has taken a major financial hit due to the pandemic’s effect on the global economy.
Cliffs will pay $505 million in cash and the rest in stock for the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year.
Both companies saw their stock prices rise in early trading Monday.