• Skip to main content

    Canada

    October 19, 2026

    Cliffs posts first profit since 2024 on high steel prices, trade barriers

    Written by Michael Cowden

    Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

    Third quarter ended Sept. 3020262025% Change
    Net sales$5,612$4,73418.5%
    Net earnings (loss)$152($251)160.6%
    Per diluted share$0.26($0.51)151.0%
    Nine months ended Sept. 30
    Net sales$15,760$14,29710.2%
    Net earnings (loss)($230)($1,235)81.4%
    Per diluted share($0.40)($2.49)83.9%
    (in millions of dollars, except per share amounts)

    Michael Cowden

    Michael Cowden is editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. Cowden has covered the steel industry since 2007. He specializes in flat-rolled steel but has also reported on steel long products, steel pipe and tube, and aluminum. Before joining SMU, Cowden held reporting jobs at Fastmarkets AMM in Chicago, the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, and the Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He has also worked as a copy editor and in marketing at the University of Chicago Press. Cowden has a BA in English from the University of Chicago and an MSJ journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Contact him at michael@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7872.

    Read more from Michael Cowden

    Latest in Canada

    Cleveland-Cliffs postpones Burns Harbor furnace reline to 2028

    Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has rescheduled the planned reline of the C blast furnace at its Burns Harbor steel mill in northwest Indiana from mid-2027 to April 2028, company executives said. The delay allows the Cleveland-based steelmaker to keep the furnace, which has annual capacity of ~2.2 million short tons, operating while steel prices and demand remain favorable for mills, they said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Monday.

    Stelco proceeds with layoffs as Ottawa warns of penalties, forced divestiture

    Stelco is proceeding with layoffs at its Hamilton, Ontario, mill despite the Canadian government’s threat of legal action. Last week, Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly had given Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., the owner of Stelco, five days to respond to its call to maintain employment levels at the Canadian mill. Just days earlier, Cliffs announced it would indefinitely idle Stelco's finishing operations and lay off 500 workers. But the government says Cliffs agreed to maintain employment levels as a condition of its 2024 purchase of Stelco.

    The words "Aluminum Market Update" in white against a dark blue background

    AMU: Edward Meir’s week in review and thoughts for the week of Oct. 12, 2026

    Base metals had a mixed week. Tin lost almost 4% on the week, finishing at $53,000/ton. Prices dropped to a low of $51,259/ton at one point. Aluminum was another loser, off by about 1.6% on the week. Investors are expecting more aluminum supply going forward, especially out of China and Indonesia. Copper prices tacked on 1.1%. They have now recovered more than half of the $700/ton loss sustained (over the course of a week) following reports/rumors in mid-September that US tariffs on refined copper imports might not proceed after all.