Cleveland Cliffs targeting 25% reduction in emissions by 2030: company

Iron ore miner and flat-rolled steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs is targeting a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, the company said Jan. 28, as the overall US steel industry looks to reduce carbon emissions amid a global push to increase sustainability.

The 25% targeted goal represents combined Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (indirect) greenhouse gas emission reductions on a mass basis (metric tons per year) compared with 2017 baseline levels, Cliffs said. A reduction at this size would take Cliffs' greenhouse gas emissions from 44.1 million mt/year in 2017 to 33 million mt/year in 2030, according to the company's website.

Cliffs said its plan to reach this goal is based on five strategic priorities: developing domestically sourced, high quality iron ore feedstock and utilizing natural gas in the production of hot briquetted iron (HBI); implementing energy efficiency and green energy projects; investing in the development of carbon capture technology; enhancing greenhouse gas emissions transparency and sustainability focus; and supporting public policies that facilitate carbon reduction in the domestic steel industry.

Cliffs, which became the largest flat-rolled steelmaker in North America in 2020 through its acquisitions of AK Steel and substantially all of ArcelorMittal USA's assets, said it recognizes its increased role to address climate change.

"We at Cleveland-Cliffs acknowledge that one of the most important issues impacting our planet is climate change," Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement. "The American steel industry is one of the cleanest and most energy efficient in the world, and therefore the utilization of steel Made in the USA is a decisively positive move to protect the planet against massive pollution embedded in the steel produced in other countries."