Stelco’s new owner on why he’s optimistic about local steel production, emission levels and tariffs [Video]

The new owner of Ontario steelmaker Stelco says his company “will not disappoint the people of Hamilton and Nanticoke,” where the business’s major facilities are based. 

Speaking to CBC Hamilton this week, CEO Lourenco Goncalves said his company, U.S. steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs, plans to keep Stelco’s headquarters in Ontario.

Cleveland-Cliffs purchased Stelco for about $3.4 billion in July. In November, the foreign acquisition received approval from the Canadian government. Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne said approval hinged on a five-year commitment that included maintaining Stelco’s head office in Hamilton and carrying operations under the name Stelco, a Cleveland-Cliffs Company.

Cleveland-Cliffs must also employ at least the same number of unionized and most-non-unionized workers, and honour existing collective agreements and pension and benefit commitments. About 1,000 people work for Stelco in Canada. 

In the U.S., Cleveland-Cliffs deals mostly in higher-end steel, whereas Stelco produces a more general commercial product, Goncalves said, adding that the Stelco acquisition doubles his business’s exposure to the …