皇冠体育-克利夫斯获得皇冠体育官网能源部5.75亿美元投资，用于加速工业脱碳技术的两个项目

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皇冠体育——（BUSINESS WIRE）——（皇冠体育官网商业资讯）——CLEVELAND- cliffs Inc. （NYSE: CLF）今天宣布，其两个项目已被皇冠体育官网能源部（DOE）选中进行合同谈判，获得总额高达5.75亿美元的资金，用于在俄亥俄州的Middletown工厂和宾夕法尼亚州的Butler工厂进行两个脱碳投资。谈判成功后，这些项目将大幅减少皇冠体育斯工厂的温室气体（GHG）排放，并提高效率，显著降低运营成本，同时确保并增加高薪的工会工作岗位。这笔联邦资金将通过皇冠体育官网能源部工业示范项目提供，该项目由《基础设施投资与就业法案》和《减少通货膨胀法案》提供资金。

Middletown Works DRI工厂和电熔炉（最高5亿美元拨款）

如果获得合同，该公司将用一个250万吨/年的氢备直接还原铁（DRI）工厂和两个120兆瓦的电熔炼炉（EMF）取代其位于俄亥俄州米德尔敦工厂的现有高炉，为现场现有的基础设施提供铁水，包括转炉、连铸机、热轧带钢轧机和各种精加工设施。米德尔敦将保持其现有的每年约300万吨的粗钢生产能力，并将不再使用焦炭生产铁。EMF技术已经得到了很好的验证，并且与在高炉中注入氢气一起，是全球综合钢铁制造商有意减少碳排放的首选途径。

该过程将大大降低碳排放强度，并将巩固米德尔敦工厂作为世界上最先进，温室气体排放最低的综合钢铁设施。该设施将灵活地使用天然气作为燃料，这将使目前的炼铁碳强度降低50%以上；天然气和清洁氢气的混合物；或清洁氢，这将使目前炼铁的碳强度降低90%以上。

这个“灵活燃料”DRI工厂的氢需求将支持皇冠体育官网能源部的“氢地球”和皇冠体育官网能源部的氢中心计划。

新设施预计每生产净吨液态钢可降低约150美元的生产成本，与现有配置相比，每年可节省4.5亿美元。这些节约不包括销售cliff H2™和Cliffs HMAX™等低碳钢预计产生的任何溢价。

这项投资将为米德尔敦工厂提供2500个工作岗位，国际机械师协会（IAM）代表了该工厂的工会员工。灵活燃料DRI工厂和emf将需要170个额外的工作岗位。该项目将在施工高峰期间创造1200个建筑行业就业岗位。

由于DRI设施可以使用标准的高炉级球团，该项目将充分利用该公司的联合皇冠体育（USW）代表的铁矿石开采和球团生产单位。新的配置还避免了大量优质废金属的使用，Cliffs预计在本十年的剩余时间里，这些废金属的供应将变得更短，成本将更高。该工艺还将使皇冠体育斯公司能够保持生产的钢材的质量水平，否则钢材会随着废料使用量的增加而退化，从而保持公司在汽车终端市场的领先地位。

皇冠体育斯的净资本支出将约为13亿美元，扣除现有高炉和焦炭厂的资本规避，从2025年开始，预计到2029年结束，为期5年。皇冠体育斯的部分将利用手头的流动性和自己产生的自由现金流来融资。米德尔敦基地提供了足够的可用空间来建造新设施，而不会妨碍现有的流程，有效地消除了施工和调试阶段的干扰风险。Cliffs感谢Midrex和Hatch在开发这个转型项目的初步规划方面的合作。

公司预计2024年不会出现与该项目相关的任何重大资本支出，并维持今年的当前资本支出前景，重申其资本分配优先事项目前专注于执行更积极的股票回购。

巴特勒工程感应式再热炉（最高可获拨款7,500万元）

如果获得合同，皇冠体育斯还将用四台电感应板再热炉取代其位于宾夕法尼亚州巴特勒工厂的两座现有的天然气高温板再热炉，以提高其电工钢生产的最佳效率，电工钢是皇冠体育官网电气化和电网绿化的关键组成部分。

该项目的主要好处是降低了碳排放，大大降低了能源成本，提高了板坯质量，通过提高工艺产量，可以增加约25,000吨的额外生产能力。这项投资将为巴特勒工厂提供1300个工作岗位，该工厂的员工由皇冠体育官网汽车工人联合会（UAW）代表。在施工高峰期，该项目将需要220个建筑行业工作岗位。

该公司还预计，在安装新设备后，每年将节省约8000万美元的成本，并提高产量。该设施的净成本预计将在4年内达到1亿美元。

Cliffs董事长、总裁兼首席执行官Lourenco Goncalves表示：“我们耗资10亿美元的清洁氢准备托莱多DR工厂在2019冠状病毒病期间完工，有力地证明了Cliffs的专业知识和减少排放的决心。我们感谢能源部的支持以及他们对皇冠体育-克利夫斯在钢铁脱碳方面的强大皇冠体育领导地位的认可。通过这些选择，皇冠体育官网能源部认可并奖励了皇冠体育-皇冠体育斯成功执行大型资本项目的记录，这些项目提高了运营效率，降低了温室气体排放。”

贡萨尔维斯先生补充说：“对米德尔敦工厂的投资证实了皇冠体育-皇冠体育斯是世界上钢铁制造技术的基准，领先于日本、韩国、欧洲和中国。我们使用天然气的经验无缝地催化了我们向使用氢气的过渡。米德尔敦和巴特勒工厂对皇冠体育-克利夫斯的成功和皇冠体育官网的工业实力都至关重要。两家工厂都支持高薪的中产阶级工会工作。我们赞赏拜登政府的共同信念，即工会工作对皇冠体育官网制造业、供应链、基础设施和国防的持续成功至关重要。此外，这些项目的内部收益率非常高，投资回收期短。能源部为我们的工会员工、我们的脱碳努力、我们在俄亥俄州和宾夕法尼亚州的社区以及我们的股东创造了一个完美的环境。”

皇冠体育官网参议员谢罗德·布朗（Sherrod Brown）表示：“这一伙伴关系将确保米德尔敦的IAM皇冠体育保持在全球钢铁行业的最前沿。这就是为什么我们通过了《两党基础设施法》和《降低通货膨胀法》，以确保俄亥俄州的制造业在未来几十年继续引领世界，推动我们的经济发展。”布朗继续说道：“皇冠体育-克利夫斯米德尔敦工厂将支持俄亥俄州不断发展的工业，同时创造高薪工作，并确保俄亥俄州在制造业和创新方面保持全国领先地位。”

关于皇冠体育-皇冠体育斯公司

皇冠体育-克利夫斯是北美最大的扁钢生产商。皇冠体育斯成立于1847年，是一家矿山运营商，也是北美最大的铁矿石球团制造商。公司从开采原料、直接还原铁、废铁到初级炼钢及下游精加工、冲压、工装、管材等垂直一体化。皇冠体育-皇冠体育斯是北美汽车行业最大的钢铁供应商，并因其全面的扁钢产品而服务于各种其他市场。皇冠体育-克利夫斯总部位于俄亥俄州皇冠体育，在皇冠体育官网和加拿大拥有约28,000名员工。

前瞻性陈述

This release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry or our businesses, are forward-looking statements. We caution investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Among the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements are the following: continued volatility of steel, iron ore and scrap metal market prices, which directly and indirectly impact the prices of the products that we sell to our customers; uncertainties associated with the highly competitive and cyclical steel industry and our reliance on the demand for steel from the automotive industry; potential weaknesses and uncertainties in global economic conditions, excess global steelmaking capacity, oversupply of iron ore, prevalence of steel imports and reduced market demand; severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, temporary or permanent shutdowns or operational challenges of one or more of our major customers, key suppliers or contractors, which, among other adverse effects, could disrupt our operations or lead to reduced demand for our products, increased difficulty collecting receivables, and customers and/or suppliers asserting force majeure or other reasons for not performing their contractual obligations to us; risks related to U.S. government actions with respect to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as amended by the Trade Act of 1974), the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and/or other trade agreements, tariffs, treaties or policies, as well as the uncertainty of obtaining and maintaining effective antidumping and countervailing duty orders to counteract the harmful effects of unfairly traded imports; impacts of existing and increasing governmental regulation, including potential environmental regulations relating to climate change and carbon emissions, and related costs and liabilities, including failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental permits, approvals, modifications or other authorizations of, or from, any governmental or regulatory authority and costs related to implementing improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes, including potential financial assurance requirements, and reclamation and remediation obligations; potential impacts to the environment or exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity, our level of indebtedness and the availability of capital could limit our financial flexibility and cash flow necessary to fund working capital, planned capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes or ongoing needs of our business, or to repurchase our common shares; our ability to reduce our indebtedness or return capital to shareholders within the currently expected timeframes or at all; adverse changes in credit ratings, interest rates, foreign currency rates and tax laws; the outcome of, and costs incurred in connection with, lawsuits, claims, arbitrations or governmental proceedings relating to commercial and business disputes, antitrust claims, environmental matters, government investigations, occupational or personal injury claims, property-related matters, labor and employment matters, or suits involving legacy operations and other matters; supply chain disruptions or changes in the cost, quality or availability of energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, critical raw materials and supplies, including iron ore, industrial gases, graphite electrodes, scrap metal, chrome, zinc, other alloys, coke and metallurgical coal, and critical manufacturing equipment and spare parts; problems or disruptions associated with transporting products to our customers, moving manufacturing inputs or products internally among our facilities, or suppliers transporting raw materials to us; the risk that the cost or time to implement a strategic or sustaining capital project may prove to be greater than originally anticipated; our ability to consummate any public or private acquisition transactions and to realize any or all of the anticipated benefits or estimated future synergies, as well as to successfully integrate any acquired businesses into our existing businesses; uncertainties associated with natural or human-caused disasters, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated geological conditions, critical equipment failures, infectious disease outbreaks, tailings dam failures and other unexpected events; cybersecurity incidents relating to, disruptions in, or failures of, information technology systems that are managed by us or third parties that host or have access to our data or systems, including the loss, theft or corruption of sensitive or essential business or personal information and the inability to access or control systems; liabilities and costs arising in connection with any business decisions to temporarily or indefinitely idle or permanently close an operating facility or mine, which could adversely impact the carrying value of associated assets and give rise to impairment charges or closure and reclamation obligations, as well as uncertainties associated with restarting any previously idled operating facility or mine; our level of self-insurance and our ability to obtain sufficient third-party insurance to adequately cover potential adverse events and business risks; uncertainties associated with our ability to meet customers’ and suppliers’ decarbonization goals and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with our own announced targets; challenges to maintaining our social license to operate with our stakeholders, including the impacts of our operations on local communities, reputational impacts of operating in a carbon-intensive industry that produces greenhouse gas emissions, and our ability to foster a consistent operational and safety track record; our actual economic mineral reserves or reductions in current mineral reserve estimates, and any title defect or loss of any lease, license, easement or other possessory interest for any mining property; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations with unions and employees; unanticipated or higher costs associated with pension and other post-employment benefit obligations resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or contribution increases required for unfunded obligations; uncertain availability or cost of skilled workers to fill critical operational positions and potential labor shortages caused by experienced employee attrition or otherwise, as well as our ability to attract, hire, develop and retain key personnel; the amount and timing of any repurchases of our common shares; and potential significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.

有关影响Cliffs业务的其他因素，请参阅第I部分第1A项。截至2023年12月31日的10-K表格年度报告中的风险因素，以及向皇冠体育官网证券交易委员会提交的其他文件。

媒体联系人：Patricia Persico高级主管，企业传播（216）694-5316

投资者联系人：James Kerr董事，投资者关系（216）694-7719

资料来源：Cleveland-Cliffs Inc。

2024年3月25日上映