Cliffs Provides Early Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Steel shipments are expected to be 4.1 million net tons in Q1 — 7% higher sequentially and 13% higher year on year.

Q1 revenue expectations are $5.2 billion. This should be higher than the $5.0 billion posted in Q4 but lower than the $6.0 billion in Q1 2022 revenues.

The Cleveland-based steelmaker expects adjusted EBITDA to be approximately $200 million in Q1 compared to $123 million in Q4 and $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said unit cost reductions were almost entirely responsible for the increase in Q1 profitability.

“As we start the second quarter and continue to execute on further cost reductions as planned, we are also enjoying the full benefits of the meaningful price increases Cleveland-Cliffs has implemented for this year, which cover contracts with automotive and non-auto clients, as well as transactional sales. With that, we expect Q2 EBITDA will be multiple times higher than Q1 EBITDA,” Goncalves added.

Cliffs has increased sheet prices seven times already this year, with the most recent increase announced on April 3 with the aim to raise hot-rolled coil pricing to $1,300 per ton.

By Laura Miller, laura@steelmarketupdate.com