The Tilden mine, which primarily supplies the company’s own AK Steel facilities in Middletown, Ohio, and Dearborn, Michigan, was idled in mid-April, with a restart previously expected in July. The company now plans to restart Tilden later this month. The earlier restart of Tilden comes in response to a faster improvement in steel demand from AK Steel’s clients than initially anticipated, particularly in the automotive sector, according to the company.

“The demand for our steel, iron ore, and metallics products has recovered dramatically over the past month, and in light of this, we are restarting Toledo and Tilden sooner than we originally expected,” Cliffs Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Lourenco Goncalves said. “We suspended these operations in a way that allowed us to restart as easily and efficiently as possible, and that is what we will do. Our footprint is well situated to capitalize on the rapidly increasing demand from the automotive sector, which is occurring faster than our most aggressive expectations.”

The company has also already restarted numerous other previously idled facilities, including Precision Partners, AK Tube, Mansfield Works, and the Dearborn downstream facilities, as well as the PLTCM and the galvanizing line.