Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel plant — United States

Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel plant is a steel plant in United States. Its listed capacity is 7,254,000 t of steel. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels. It is operated by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. By capacity it ranks #2 among 49 steel plants in United States. It emits about 9,040,985 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 1.6% of the CO₂e from the 1,910 facilities in United States that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 34% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-32441037.

In context: how this facility compares

At 7,254,000 t of steel, Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel plant is well above the median steel plant in United States (907,000 t of steel). Subsector: iron-and-steel. As steel plant, it requires high process heat (typically 800–1500°C) for its core industrial operations, supplied by boilers, furnaces or direct combustion. Steel plants burn coal in blast furnaces or use electric arcs to melt scrap; in both cases the molten metal must be kept above 1,500°C and transferred through extensive hot piping and vessels.

Capacity & CO₂-intensity comparison computed from Climate TRACE industrial facilities data; sector role based on engineering reference.

What 9,040,985 t CO₂e a year looks like

This facility's estimated annual CO₂e (Climate TRACE, modelled) in everyday equivalents from the US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies calculator:

Equivalencies: US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies. Emissions: Climate TRACE.

Capacity vs largest steel plants in United States

Listed capacity (t of steel), Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0).

Operator

Operated by Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All facilities by this operator →

Local climate

Cleveland-Cliffs Indiana Harbor steel plant sits in a hot-summer humid continental climate zone (Köppen Dfa), at 41.7°N in the northern hemisphere.

Köppen zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1400 W/m² to ambient — roughly 1.08× the loss at a 20 °C reference. Reference-surface calculation at a 150 °C surface from WorldClim climate normals (ASTM C680 / ISO 12241) — an indicative per-climate comparison, not a measurement of this site’s specific equipment. Open method dataset: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.20787408 (CC BY 4.0).

Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.

How it compares & nearby sites

The #2 largest of 49 steel plants in United States by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Arcelormittal Usa Indiana Harbor · Lime Plant
• Mittal Steel Usa - Indiana Harbor East · Lime Plant · 168,033 t CO₂
• EAST CHICAGO RECOVERY INC · Metals Plant · 6,267 t CO₂
• Harsco Metals · Metals Plant · 482 t CO₂
• LINDE - WHITING, IN 5&6 · Chemical Plant · 1,580,865 t CO₂
• LINDE - WHITING, IN 1-4 · Chemical Plant · 157,554 t CO₂

Location

Coordinates 41.67188, -87.4356. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions