Cleveland Cliffs plans to lay off 630 workers at two taconite mines on the Iron Range. The layoffs are the result of Cliffs’ plans to temporarily close its Minorca Mine in Virginia, and also temporarily idle part of Hibbing Taconite.

In a statement, the steelmaker said the “temporary idles are necessary to re-balance working capital needs and consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024.”

News of the layoffs was first publicized by DFL State Sen. Grant Hauschild of Hermantown, who also attributed the layoffs in part to a slowdown in the domestic automobile industry, which heavily relies on Minnesota iron ore to make the steel that’s needed to manufacture cars and trucks.

“Our miners and our mines are the backbone of our communities,” Hauschild told MPR News.

“So when you get news like this that folks are being laid off, that’s not just the miners themselves, that’s our families, that’s our economic engine up here.”

Cliffs owns a majority stake in Hibbing Taconite and operates the facility, and is sole owner of the Minorca mine, along with two other mines on the Iron Range.

U.S. Steel owns a small stake in Hibtac, along with two other mines.

Combined, the facilities employ about 4,000 workers, and are a significant economic driver for the region.

Cleveland Cliffs’ stock has fallen by about 20 percent in the past month, since the company reported weaker-than-expected earnings.

And automakers are contending with 25 percent steel tariffs imposed on steel imported from Canada and Mexico.

Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors earlier this month that even though his company gets most of its metal from within the U.S., it will still feel the effects of the tariffs because its suppliers have global sources for aluminum and steel.

“I’m worried in general about our economy right now,” said Hauschild. “I think there’s a lot of uncertainty happening at the federal level. We don’t know how tariffs will impact our economy, especially in northern Minnesota, and so I’m pretty nervous about what could happen in the future.”

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.