Taconite Contract

[Howie]

Algoma may still get iron ore from Marquette by rail especially in the winter.

[Mr Link]

Will Tilden ore no longer be moved from the LS&I ore dock to Algoma? Sailing distance and fuel costs are substantially less using Marquette.

At this point, I think probably only insiders at Algoma, US Steel and Cliffs know that answer. But I suspect it is likely. Algoma signed a four year deal to buy ore from US Steel, a direct competitor to Cleveland Cliffs (100% owner of Empire and Tilden mines). The deal was not announced as exclusive,so Algoma could be planning to get ore from multiple sources, but how much ore do they need for one blast furnace?

There also seemed to be a lot of visceral talk between Cliffs and Algoma when Algoma was still a part of Essar Steel. Essar sunk $2 billion into creating a new mine and steel mill at Nashwauk MN, only to go bankrupt before the project was complete. Cliffs tried to take over the project but was outbid by Mesabi Metallics, and the project is still sitting idle and unfinished.

[rburdick27]

Will Tilden ore no longer be moved from the LS&I ore dock to Algoma? Sailing distance and fuel costs are substantially less using Marquette.

[Mr Link]

The US Steel/Algoma contract doesn't start until 2021 so it won't have any affect on this years layups.

For about the past 25 years, Algoma has been receiving roughly 1/3 to 1/2 its ore by rail. It was coming from Empire but now from Tilden since Empire closed. (Typically one train per day, combined in Gladstone with general freight.) The story I recall hearing is that Algoma did not have the space to stockpile enough ore to last through the winter so they asked for rail service in the winter months only. However the railroad at the time (Wisconsin Central) refused to provide a price unless it was for year round service.

It will be interesting to see if Cliffs continues to provide ore for the all rail route, if CN tries to route some ore all-rail from Minn to the Sault (there is no direct rail route anymore) or if the all rail service goes away or becomes seasonal. With Algoma only running one blast furnace since 2008, perhaps their stockpile situation has changed.

Although this was not announced as an exclusive deal, it will probably reduce or eliminate the Marquette to Soo runs LLT has been doing for years.

[garbear]

Saw that there is a new taconite contract out there for one of the fleets. How will this affect current layups?

The contract was between USS and Algoma Steel at the Soo, even though the vast majority of ore that goes to the Soo is hauled by LLT.

[Scott]

Saw that there is a new taconite contract out there for one of the fleets. How will this affect current layups?