A couple of questions about Detroit Area industries

**renf** · August-18-20, 04:04 PM

1. Cleveland Cliffs - the ore mining firm- purchased AK steel at the River Rouge plant earlier this year. However, all the signs identified the steel plant as AK. Is this unusual?
2. The renovated nearby Marathon Oil refinery refines bakken oil from the sands of northern Alberta. I thought that bakken oil was competitive only if the price of oil was high. I assume it costs a good bit to keep that oil liquid and ship it by pipeline from northern Alberta to Detroit and Sarnia. Is the Marathon plant able to refine other oils if oil stays low in price?
3. Is there any word about what US Steel with do with their now idle Zug Island plant?
4. About three years ago, New Steel International took possession about about one thousand acres on either side of the GTW tracks near Durand. They proposed to build a new pollution minimal plant to produce steel for the vehicle industry. This same firm tried to do the same thing in Ohio but did not get the capital they expected from Russian investors. Has New Steel raised the capital they will need to built a new greenfield steel plant near Durand?
Thank you.

**MikeM** · August-18-20, 05:52 PM

1. I believe AK Steel will retain its brand and operate as a subsidiary of Cliffs. Even so, it could take a few months to get new signs made and installed while the virus has delayed things.
2. Bakken crude comes mainly from North Dakota, Montana, and the southern prairies of Canada. Oil sands crude is different and comes from Alberta, north of Edmonton. Both are competitively disadvantaged due to location, and the oil sands require costly processing to mine and refine for shipping. The Marathon refinery reconfigured and added equipment to more efficiently process heavy oil. But like any refinery, it can process most grades of oil - but will be more limited in what finished fuels it can produce and how profitably it can accomplish that.