Cleveland-Cliffs’ $483M loss prompts layoffs,
plant idling, renewed focus on auto steel

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland-Cliffs is temporarily cutting hundreds of jobs after reporting a significant loss in the first quarter of 2025 and plans to close underperforming plants in multiple states as part of cost-cutting efforts.

The Cleveland-based steel manufacturer on Wednesday reported a $483 million loss for the first three months of 2025.

As a result, the company said it intends to pull back on “non-core” functions and pursue a renewed focus on its “core” business of steelmaking for the auto industry.

The company, one of North America’s largest steel producers, reported its revenue for the quarter was $4.6 billion, up from $4.3 billion in the previous quarter. It still posted an adjusted loss of $456 million, which is greater than the $332 million loss it experienced in the last quarter of 2024.

Cleveland-Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves blamed the losses on underperforming operations, and lower steel prices at the end of last year and early this year.

“… As a result, we are taking decisive action to streamline our operations and enhance efficiency,” he said in a statement. “This will drive meaningful fixed cost savings and sharpen our focus on our core strength: supplying steel to the automotive industry.”

Goncalves, in his Wednesday statement, again praised President Donald Trump, saying tariffs support the American steel and automotive industry. He said Cleveland-Cliffs has secured larger orders from automakers thanks to federal efforts to boost U.S. vehicle production.

“Cliffs is uniquely positioned at the intersection of these two industries,” Goncalves said.

Now that is has secured higher-volume commitments from automakers, it expects to improve profits in late 2025, Goncalves said.

Meanwhile, the company is changing its approach to what it described as “non-core” markets, such as rail, high-carbon sheet and specialty plate products, Goncalves said.

The company pulled back on plans for a transformer production plant in Weirton, West Virginia, that was expected to start production in 2026 and create 600 jobs. The plant had been idled temporarily in February 2024.

Cleveland-Cliffs also announced other operational changes in response to the losses, including the idling of six facilities.

This week, the company announced the full idling of two facilities in Pennsylvania and one in Illinois, causing about 950 employees to be laid off starting around June 30.

In March, the steel manufacturer announced plans to temporarily stop operations at two of its mines in Minnesota, resulting in 630 temporary layoffs.

Soon after, the company announced the idling of facilities at Dearborn Works in Michigan, where another nearly 600 steelworkers were expected to be laid off starting in May.

Cleveland.com

Trump memo seeks to protect Great Lakes from invasive carp, backs barrier project

Washington ― President Donald Trump on Friday is expected to sign a memorandum directing his administration to take steps to block invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes, signaling support for a construction project in Illinois that would install barriers to prevent the carp from infiltrating Lake Michigan.

In a fact sheet provided first to The Detroit News, a White House official said the memorandum directs the administration to “expeditiously implement the most effective mechanisms, barriers, and other measures to prevent the migration and expansion of invasive carp in the Great Lakes Basin and the surrounding region.”

President Donald Trump speaks after David Perdue was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Washington.

The memorandum explicitly expresses support for a $1.15 billion project at the Brandon Road Lock & Dam in Joliet, Illinois, that would install several methods to serve as a barrier to the carp, “provided that the State of Illinois does not stand in the way of its construction.”

The swipe at Illinois comes several months after Illinois postponed signing paperwork with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for land acquisition that’s needed to proceed with the project’s construction, after Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker cited the uncertainty of funding from the Trump administration.

Pritzker’s office at the time indicated it was seeking written reassurances from the Trump administration that the federal government would “uphold their end of the bargain” after officials froze hundreds of millions in federal funding promised to the state for various projects following Trump’s inauguration.

The director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on Feb. 10 postponed a closing in which the state was scheduled to acquire title and authorize the U.S. government to access the land rights needed for the first part of the project.

“I have a responsibility to protect Illinois taxpayers,” Pritzker said in a February statement. “We cannot move forward until the Trump administration provides more certainty and clarity on whether they will follow the law and deliver infrastructure funds we were promised.”

The Detroit News

Lake Michigan’s Lake Express ferry is open for the season

MUSKEGON, MI — Michiganders and Wisconsinites don’t have to suffer through Chicago traffic to see each other. For more than two decades a faster, more scenic route has become an underrated travel hack: Lake Michigan’s “fast ferry.”

The Lake Express, the high-speed catamaran car ferry that connects Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan, has officially set off for the season.

The Lake Express goes coast-to-coast in 2.5 hours, a fraction of the drive time from Muskegon to Milwaukee which is about 4.5 hours. The ferry brands itself as the fastest shortcut to avoid Chicago traffic frustrations.

The shortcut through the Great Lakes is entering its 22nd season, which will run through October. At a top speed of 34 knots for the 80-mile journey that translates to about 39 miles per hour. The ferry carries up to 250 passengers. For vehicles, the common configuration is 44 vehicles and 12 motorcycles.

The Lake Express saw its traveler numbers bounce back post-pandemic, making its 20th season a banner year in 2023.

In its first weekend out for 2025 the Lake Express carried travelers from 21 U.S. States and two Canadian Provinces, according to its Facebook post.

The ferry crosses the big lake four times, departing from Milwaukee and Muskegon once in the morning and once in the afternoon each, seven days a week.

M Live

Federal New York Makes First Trip to Lake Superior

Fednav Ltd.’s 2024-built bulk carrier Federal New York was upbound at the Soo Locks early Friday afternoon. She was bound for Thunder Bay to load either grain or potash.

The vessel was built by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., with newbuilding and project management services handled by Anglo-Eastern Technical Services (AETS). She has a deadweight tonnage of 34,763 and is specialized to trade in the Great Lakes.

Federal New York is one of several vessels the Montreal-based Fednav has brought into service this year and last.

Know Your Ships

Video Spotlight: Know Your Ships and its long-time editor

Author and documentarian Wes Oleszewski chats with Know Your Ships book Editor and Publisher Roger LeLievre. Listen here: