【Ferro-alloys.com】NWI Times reported that Cleveland based US Steel maker Cleveland-Cliffs will invest USD 100 million in the No 7 Blast Furnace at Indiana Harbor East in East Chicago, which is the largest blast furnace in the Western Hemisphere, making it more environmentally friendly. Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President & CEO Mr Lourenco Goncalves said "We are deploying a USD 100 million investment to Indiana Harbor No 7. It's happening starting September 1 and will last 45 days."

The blast furnace will be modernized to burn the new feedstock of hot-briquetted iron as well as of iron ore, which should reduce its carbon footprint. Cleveland-Cliffs has been investing significantly in HBI as a less carbon-intensive raw material that can be used in the integrated steelmaking process. Mr Gonclaves said "When that furnace comes back, it will be larger, using a lot more HBI and emitting a lot less CO2. It's already very good. We use massive amounts of HBI and we inject natural gas in the furnace."

Blast Furnace No 7 at the former Inland Steel mill in East Chicago was built 41 years ago and can forge as much as 11,500 tons of iron a day. It was last relined seven years ago, when then-owner ArcelorMittal invested USD 70 million in it.

• [Editor:zhaozihao]