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Cliffs may close two unprofitable AK steel plants
The U.S. will rely on foreign sources for some key materials
The Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce stated in a report on November 18 that if AK Steel ceases production of GOES grain-oriented electrical steel, the key material used to make transformers, this may be seen as a threat to national security. Its power grid.
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The Bureau of Industry and Security reported that AK Steel, headquartered in the United States, is a subsidiary of Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest flat steel producer in North America, and it may stop producing grain-oriented electrical steel due to unprofitability.
"The 232 investigations conducted in 2017 resolved the threats to national security posed by imported GOES (and other steel products), leading to a 25% tariff on the imports of steel products from most countries in 2018. As a result, the volume of GOES imports in 2019 It is much lower than in 2018 (down 56%)," the report said.
It pointed out that although AK Steel is still a leader in the domestic market, its electrical steel business is not profitable, partly because of pressure from low-cost imports over the years.
The report stated that if AK's GOES production shuts down, the United States will completely rely on foreign sources to obtain materials that are vital to the manufacture of transformers.
"The domestic production capacity of certain grades and qualities of GOES is insufficient or absent, and these demands are increasing to meet the efficiency standards of distribution transformers and the overall market trend of more efficient transformers using higher grades of GOES," it said .
"The United States lacks sufficient capacity to produce transformer cores and laminations, which are key components of transformers. Transformer manufacturers in the United States rely on foreign sources (especially Canada and Mexico) to produce these key components to meet more than 75% (non- -Captive) demand," it said.
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