Cleveland-Cliffs Completes Successful Blast Furnace Hydrogen Injection Trial at Indiana Harbor #7 Blast Furnace

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) announced today that it has successfully completed a hydrogen (H2) injection trial at its Indiana Harbor #7 blast furnace, the largest blast furnace in North America. This represents the second Cleveland-Cliffs blast furnace to utilize hydrogen as a reductant and fuel source, following the successful trial at Middletown Works in May of 2023. Indiana Harbor #7 is among the largest blast furnaces in the entire world, both in size and production capacity. IH#7 also compares favorably against similar equipment in Japan, Korea, China or Europe, for its technological capability to support the production of high-end steels, including highly specified automotive feedstock.

Cliffs recently completed the commissioning of the hydrogen pipeline at Indiana Harbor, which was used for this trial. This successful commissioning marks another significant achievement toward Cliffs’ future GHG reduction efforts, completing the pipeline in advance of schedule, below budget and without incident. Cliffs' hydrogen gas supplier, Linde, was a critical partner in the successful execution of this major trial.

Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Indiana Harbor #7 is the largest blast furnace in North America and we are proud of our ability to be ahead of the curve in using this cutting edge technology to decarbonize, while maintaining both our efficiency and the high standard of quality that comes with steel produced via the blast furnace route. As the American iron and steel leader, we are proud that we are ahead of the rest of the world in using the technologies that make our blast furnace steel the cleanest in the world, including using iron ore pellets, natural gas injection, HBI, and now hydrogen. I congratulate my team on another major step forward. I also thank Linde for their valuable contribution.”

About Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. Founded in 1847 as a mine operator, Cliffs also is the largest manufacturer of iron ore pellets in North America. The Company is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America and serves a diverse range of other markets due to its comprehensive offering of flat-rolled steel products. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland-Cliffs employs approximately 28,000 people across its operations in the United States and Canada.

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