Cleveland-based Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. moved forward with its acquisition of Chicago-based ArcelorMittal USA, a deal that could shake up the steel industry including in the Pittsburgh region.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 terminated early, according to a notice from the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission.
The approval keeps the company on track to close the acquisition in December. The acquisition will include a 45-acre ArcelorMittal plant in Monessen that employs 181 people. ArcelorMittal declined to comment on what the deal will mean for the local plant.
“With that, we have a clear path toward closing this transaction next month, as planned,” Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs said in a prepared statement. “…As we will soon become the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, we pledge to take great care of our expanded workforce and to support manufacturing in our country, through the safe and environmentally friendly production of steel.”
Cleveland-Cliffs also completed the acquisition of AK Steel, which operates a large facility in Butler, earlier this year.
Richard Bourke, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst who follows the steel industry, said about two thirds of AK Steel’s production goes into the automotive industry and that ArcelorMittal also has a strong position in the automotive industry.
“[Cleveland-Cliffs] were doubling down on that, looking to be the biggest supplier to the auto industry,” Bourke said.
Bourke said the strategy marks a pattern across the entire steel industry. He said there are legacy blast furnace producers, like Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. and ArcelorMittal, and there are newer companies like Nucor, Steel Dynamics and Big River Steel that focus on more modern electric arc furnace technology.
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