Cleveland-Cliffs Lake Erie steel plant — Canada

Cleveland-Cliffs Lake Erie steel plant is a steel plant in Canada. Its listed capacity is 2,500,000 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 #3 among 5 steel plants in Canada. It emits about 3,642,472 t CO₂e a year from Climate TRACE. That is 5.2% of the CO₂e from the 127 facilities in Canada that have an emissions figure in IndustryAtlas. Its CO₂ per unit of capacity is 57% above the national median for this sector.

Facility data: Climate TRACE v6 (asset-level capacity & CO₂e, CC BY 4.0), id ct-1566472.

In context: how this facility compares

At 2,500,000 t of steel, Cleveland-Cliffs Lake Erie steel plant is around the median steel plant in Canada (2,500,000 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 3,642,472 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 Canada

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 Lake Erie steel plant sits in a warm-summer humid continental climate zone (Köppen Dfb), at 42.8°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 moderately corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C3 — Medium), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.

In this site’s local climate, a bare 150 °C surface sheds about 1409 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 #3 largest of 5 steel plants in Canada by listed capacity (Climate TRACE).

Nearby industrial sites

• Imperial Oil Nanticoke Refinery · Refinery · 1,118,169 t CO₂
• CGC Hagersville Plant · Other Manufacturing · 79,360 t CO₂
• ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant · Steel Plant · 3,094,399 t CO₂
• Dundas Operations · Lime Plant · 427,791 t CO₂
• South Shore Inn (Inc) · Food & Beverage
• The Original Crunch Roll Factory, Llc · Food & Beverage

Location

Coordinates 42.80094, -80.09889. View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions