Eastern Railroad Discussion > ArcelorMittal now Cleveland-Cliffs Riverdale, IL Steel Mill

I took some aerial photos of ArcelorMittal's Riverdale, IL, plant, which is the destination of the unique bottle train that NS runs from Indiana Harbor. It occured to me afterwards that this actually is or will be Cleveland-Cliffs Riverdale mill, as they bought ArcelorMittal US in late September. What are the implications of that? I wonder if they will announce consolidations. It seemed eerily quiet, partly because I never realized how huge the footprint of demolished buildings was around here.

The only rail movement during this quick jaunt was what looks like an SW1 taking a signle car away from the more modern building near Barr Yard towards the older looking buildings.

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Next up, a shot of the newer building with the older in the distance.

A set of the bottle cars is parked without power. I wonder if fewer sets are running now?

A look the older portion.

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Some closer-in looks at the mill, and one wider shot showing the vast space where other buildings used to be.

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Also, a CSX westbound was coming into Barr, shown first passing through Dolton. Then, a mediocre shot of a CP train that was sitting with a heritage unit trailing.

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 Great photos! In photo one the far left tracks (next to the wooded area and four track yard) was once the PRR Panhandle Mainline!. In the vicinity of the north end of the steel mill's property is the Major Taylor Bike Trail which uses this Pennsy right of way to 87th Street (Dan Ryan Woods)....

So Arcellor-Mittal is no more in the U.S.A--bought out by another company??  Wasn't Arcelor a Russian firm?

Interesting set. Another one of those "shadow of its former self" locations. Thanks for sharing.

ghemr Wrote:
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>  Great photos! In photo one the far left tracks
> (next to the wooded area and four track yard) was
> once the PRR Panhandle Mainline!. In the vicinity
> of the north end of the steel mill's property is
> the Major Taylor Bike Trail which uses this
> Pennsy right of way to 87th Street (Dan Ryan
> Woods)....

Interesting point! That explains the double track bridge. Several years ago with an older drone I biked on the trail to the building across the river, and took photos of the mill. These three show where the remaining track continues to head north, and then the bridge and building that still has track into it. It's really odd looking now to have that one industrial building on the other side of the river, with houses all around it.

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coach Wrote:
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> So Arcellor-Mittal is no more in the U.S.A--bought
> out by another company??  Wasn't Arcelor a
> Russian firm?

Arcelor was out of Luxemburg, and then was bought by Mittal Steel out of India, and ArcelorMittal is headquarted in Luxemburg.

And yes, it is no more in the US; Cleveland-Cliffs bought all of the US operations.

http://www.clevelandcliffs.com/English/news-center/news-releases/news-releases-details/2020/Cleveland-Cliffs-Inc.-to-Acquire-ArcelorMittal-USA/default.aspx

inCHI Wrote:
 It's really odd looking now to
> have that one industrial building on the other
> side of the river, with houses all around it.

I believe that single industry receives covered coil cars via the IHB.....

coach Wrote:
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> So Arcellor-Mittal is no more in the U.S.A--bought
> out by another company??  Wasn't Arcelor a
> Russian firm?

No. ArcelorMittal is headquarted in Luxembourg. Its CEO, Lakshmi Mittal, is of Indian descent. The company is the aggregate of many firms, but the core is the French steelmaker Arcelor and the Indian steelmaker Mittal Steel. It has a complex and long family tree, but that's the core.

The US operations are mainly the combination of the former Inland Steel, the former Bethlehem Steel, the former LTV Steel (made up principally of the previous Youngstown Sheet & Tube, the previous Jones & Laughlin Steel, and the former Republic Steel), plus various other pieces. The current Republic Steel is the result of a spin-off of one steel product line (bar products) by LTV. The rest of the former Republic Steel that was part of LTV is now part of ArcelorMittal.

But bottom line in any case, ArcelorMittal is most definitely NOT a Russian company. Mr. Mittal is one of the world's wealthiest people, but he is definitely no Russian oligarch.

Posted from Android
Later edited 10/25 10:27 AM ET and 7:21 PM ET to clarify a few points, add the former Bethlehem Steel to the list (how did I forget that???) and to correct some unfortunate insistence by my smartphone spell checker to render certain words and punctuation incorrectly. Sorry.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/20 16:22 by ironmtn.

Evraz, another steel and rail supplier, unrelated to the firm's listed above, I recall is a Russian firm. They own the Rocky Mountain Steel Mill, formerly Colorado Fuel & Iron in Pueblo, CO.

Roadbed Wrote:
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> Evraz, another steel and rail supplier, unrelated
> to the firm's listed above, I recall is a Russian
> firm. They own the Rocky Mountain Steel Mill,
> formerly Colorado Fuel & Iron in Pueblo, CO.

EVRAZ is a British firm, headquartered in London, England and listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a component of the FTSE 100 European stock index. While a British firm technically, and having major holdings in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, its largest stockholders are wealthy Russians. So in the sense of its ultimate ownership by stock positions being held by Russians, and having major facilities in Russia and the former Soviet Union, it is a "Russian" firm. But by its corporate structure it is a British company.

And yes, EVRAZ does own the former CF&I in Pueblo, Colorado.

A long twisted tale of US steelmaking. Like another business on this site.

Posted from Android

Really interesting photos (and great drone work) in this thread, inChi. Thanks much.

I knew that the Riverdale facilities were today a mere shadow of their former state. But I had no idea by how much. Compared to memories I have of that plant, and having known in the past a number of people who worked there, it was rather stunning to see these images.

I recall vividly from many years ago how much larger and busier the Riverdale mill was, as well as other steel mills in the area that are now also gone. When I regularly traveled into the Chicago Loop many years ago via the IC Electric from the far south suburbs, one could see beginning at about the Riverdale station and up to about 115th Street, a view from the train to either the left (west) or the right (east) that revealed multiple major steel mills hard at work.

On a cold winter's day, the sight of the smoke, steam and flame arising from mills such as Riverdale (at that time Interlake Steel) to the west, and Wisconsin Steel (an International Harvester subsidiary), Acme Steel and LTV / Youngstown Sheet & Tube along the Calumet River to the east was impressive. And on some days, one could even see the vast northern Indiana mills on the far horizon in the east. A little further to the north beginning at about 87th St., the US Steel South Works, right on the Lake Michigan shoreline, could be seen on the eastern horizon. It was really something to behold. I have never forgotten those views that I saw many times, and the industrial and economic might, and well-paying jobs, that they represented. Much of it now idled, or completely gone.

Not to inject politics, but if you've witnessed such things and understood what they represented (both good, like the enormous economic benefit, and bad, like the terrible pollution), it's hard not to think about them at election time, and to reflect on how much our nation and its economy has changed. And how and why that change happened.

Sorry for the delayed response due to a recalcitrant smartphone yesterday when I posted some comments above on ArcelorMittal. And thanks again for the excellent images, sad indeed though they might be.

MC
Muskegon, Michigan



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/20 08:31 by ironmtn.

Another ArcelorMittal plant included in the Cleveland-Cliffs sale is the operation of the former Weirton (WV) Steel. It still operates as a tin mill getting coils from NS. Back in the 90’s when it was still a fully integrated steel mill it was Conrail’s 7th biggest customer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/20 09:42 by 41bridge.

coach Wrote:
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> So Arcellor-Mittal is no more in the U.S.A--bought
> out by another company??  Wasn't Arcelor a
> Russian firm?

Probably Coach was thinking of Russian steel maker Severstall, who owned the Rouge Steel plant in Dearborn among others. Severstall sold their US plants in 2014. The Rouge plant was sold to AK Steel.

inCHI Wrote:
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> Arcelor was out of Luxemburg, and then was bought
> by Mittal Steel out of India, and ArcelorMittal is
> headquarted in Luxemburg.
>
> And yes, it is no more in the US; Cleveland-Cliffs
> bought all of the US operations.
>
> http://www.clevelandcliffs.com/English/news-center
> /news-releases/news-releases-details/2020/Clevelan
> d-Cliffs-Inc.-to-Acquire-ArcelorMittal-USA/default
> .aspx

MIttal bought International Steel Group for $4.5 billion in 2005.

Its rather hilarious to see them tucking their tail between their legs and running from the US by selling the former ISG for a mere $1.4 billion.

Someone who is good with the numbers, please calculate the profit Mittal made with this genius dealmaking.

Wilbur Ross, now Secretary of Commerce, assembled pieces of several steel companies, and sold them to Arcelor Mittal. He made a bundle.

Out of favor industries often present great opportunities to investors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/business/worldbusiness/mergers-show-steel-industry-is-still-worthy-of-big.html

Posted from Android

abyler Wrote:
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> MIttal bought International Steel Group for $4.5
> billion in 2005.
>
> Its rather hilarious to see them tucking their
> tail between their legs and running from the US by
> selling the former ISG for a mere $1.4 billion.
>
> Someone who is good with the numbers, please
> calculate the profit Mittal made with this genius
> dealmaking.

Well, it may seem so but the deal is actually $3.3 billion after debt assumed and other considerations. Besides, while AM paid more for these mills they've also made plenty of profit in the years they've owned them as well. Like billions of dollars. They bought from ISG and paid a premium at the time because ISG accomplished something the old legacy owners couldn't get: cheaper streamlined union contracts with drastically reduced job classifications which made these facilities much more profitable. So in the end I don't think they took much of a hit, if any. And most of them are vastly upgraded so Cliffs actually got a great deal for getting good mills at somewhat depressed prices, which in a normal economy will pay off handsomely. Now there's just 2 integrated producers left in the states, which is a little hard to believe...

JG