WEIRTON, W.Va. — Cleveland Cliffs will transform its idled tin mill production facility in Weirton, West Virginia, into an electrical transformer production plant.
The announcement came July 22, roughly three months after the company closed the last steel production plant in Weirton and laid off 900 people in a community that has produced steel continuously for 114 years.
The new Cleveland Cliffs facility promises to employ 600 workers to produce high-demand electrical transformers with the help of $50 million in funding from West Virginia. The facility will also give formerly laid-off employees their jobs back while bringing back a key industry to a community that once produced half of the world’s raw steel.
“Building and manufacturing transformers is a growth industry and the possibility exists for it to grow much larger than that, so it could be a significant business,” said Mark Glyptis, president of the United Steel Workers Office Local 2911. “There’s excitement surrounding this.”
A new plant
The Cleveland Cliffs plant will build electrical transformers using grain-oriented steel — an electrical steel with controlled grain orientation that gives it more magnetic properties. Grain-oriented steel has become increasingly popular over the years because of these properties that have an efficient use of energy and a low power loss rate.
Officials began discussing alternative solutions for the facility shortly after Cleveland Cliffs announced the tin mill would be idled in February.
Cleveland Cliffs is the only producer of grain-oriented steel in the country and already has two plants located in Butler, Pennsylvania and Zanesville, Ohio. But, a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that demand for this steel will double by 2050.
As demand increases, Glyptis says the wait for this steel for electrical transformers is almost two years; the recently closed Weirton facility could help with this.
The steel will be made at Cleveland Cliff’s Butler branch and transported to Weirton where workers will assemble the transformers. “It’s going to be like a hub of transformer making,” Glyptis said.
The operation will take place in one of Weirton’s former steel mill warehouses, possible through the help of a $50 million investment from the state of West Virginia.
On July 22, The West Virginia Economic Development Authority approved a low-interest loan from West Virginia taxpayers through its High Development Impact Project fund.
“By making these high-demand transformers right here, we’re cutting down on our need for energy from other countries and making our grid stronger,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justic said, in a statement. “This is a big win for West Virginia and our country’s energy future.”
Jobs
The plant will also give back jobs to some of the previously laid-off Cleveland Cliff workers; a portion of which were transferred to other branches and will now have the opportunity to come home.
For decades, Weirton was a hub for steel jobs. At its peak production in 1942, the mills employed 13,000. But the U.S. steel industry couldn’t compete with foreign steel. Year after year, more and more employees were laid off until the remaining 900 Cleveland Cliff employees lost their jobs in April.
Since then, state legislators, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and Goncalves have been working with Glyptis to save these jobs and bring in a new steel industry.
“There’s excitement among all employees whether you’re young or an older employee,” Glyptis said They’re very excited, not only for themselves but their families as well.”
The plant isn’t expected to be ready until 2026, but Glyptis says they are already looking at training former tin mill employees to make these high-demand steel transformers — a steel industry expected to be in Weirton for the long run.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
