Algoma's January outage to hit shipments, profits

The company noted that the outage “reduced production by 120,000 to 150,000 net tons, significantly impacting adjusted Ebitda performance in the quarter.”

Recall that repairs were needed after an unplanned outage on Jan. 20 at its blast furnace. This was related to a utility corridor collapse at its coke-making facility. Production resumed on Feb. 11.  

“We expect to close out our fiscal year on a high note, with steel production back to normal levels and our end markets looking strong,” Michael Garcia, Algoma’s CEO, said in a statement.

He praised the restart efforts of the Algoma team. Garcia said those efforts allowed the company “to capture attractive pricing in our order book that partially offset the effect of impacted shipments in the fiscal fourth quarter.”

Garcia commented that demand for Algoma’s products remains strong, and market prices for hot-rolled coil have been rising.

“With a return to full production, we expect an improvement in our fiscal first-quarter results,” he said.

EAF update

Garcia also provided an update on the company’s switch from an integrated to EAF steelmaker.

“Importantly, our electric-arc furnace project remains on schedule and within budget, with commissioning activities expected to start by the end of 2024,” he said.

“We have continued to secure contracts to advance the EAF project, which now totals approximately (CAD)$788 million, most of which are on fixed-price terms, reducing budget risks,” Garcia added.