Cleveland-Cliffs increased steel sales by 5% y/y in Q1

In the first quarter of 2025, the American steel company Cleveland-Cliffs increased its sales of steel products by 5% year-on-year – to 4.1 million short tons. This is stated in the company’s report.

Of these shipments, 41% were hot-rolled products.

The average net selling price of steel products in January-March this year amounted to $980 per short ton compared to $1175 per ton in the same period in 2024.

The company’s consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2025 amounted to $4.6 billion compared to $4.3 billion in the previous quarter. In January-March, Cliffs recorded an adjusted net loss of $456 million.

According to Lorenko Gonsalves, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Cliffs, the first quarter results were negatively impacted by inefficient non-core assets and delays due to lower index prices in late 2024 and early 2025. According to him, the company is taking steps to optimize operations and increase efficiency. This will lead to significant fixed cost savings and allow the company to focus on supplying steel to the automotive industry.

Gonsalves said that thanks to the measures taken by the Trump administration to stimulate auto production in the United States, the company has already agreed to increase volumes with customers in the original equipment manufacturing sector for the automotive sector.

Between March and May of this year, Cliffs decided to fully or partially shut down six facilities to optimize production space, eliminate unprofitable operations and free up excess working capital.

“These actions are expected to result in annualized savings of more than $300 million, not including additional overhead savings and productivity gains at other facilities. The downtime is not expected to affect flat products production volumes,” the company said.

In addition, Cleveland-Cliffs will no longer allocate capital to the development of its transformer plant in Vinton, West Virginia.

In 2025, Cliffs expects, among other things, a decrease in unit steel costs of approximately $50 per short ton compared to 2024, mainly due to the idling of inefficient assets. Capital expenditures will amount to approximately $725 million (previous forecast – $700 million).

Cleveland-Cliffs has recently announced plans to indefinitely shut down three of its facilities in Riverdale, Illinois, and Conshohocken and Stilton, Pennsylvania. All of them will stop working around June 30. The company explained that this is a forced decision dictated by low demand and prices for specialized products.

Share
Published by
Masha Malonog
Tags: steel production US
  • Industry

China continues efforts to regulate steel production

China is advancing efforts to regulate steel production in the country to restore the balance…

Thursday May 8, 2025
  • Global Market

Germany should seek new trade agreements as part of EU strategy – Minister

The new German Minister of Economy, Katherina Reiche, has called for more active trade agreements as…

Thursday May 8, 2025
  • Global Market

Global iron ore prices fell by $1.5/t in early May

Spot quotations of Fe 62 iron ore in China decreased from $98.94/t to $97.76/t CFR…

Thursday May 8, 2025
  • Global Market

EU stainless steel producers strengthen their positions despite geopolitical instability

Despite geopolitical instability and pressure from imports, leading European stainless steel producers Acerinox and Outokumpu…

Thursday May 8, 2025
  • Companies

Thyssenkrupp Steel and IG Metall reach agreement in principle on restructuring

Thyssenkrupp's steel division has announced that it has reached an agreement in principle with the…

Thursday May 8, 2025
  • Companies

Acciaierie di Verona opens a plant for the production of rebar coils

Italian steel company Acciaierie di Verona, part of the Pittini Group, has completed the construction…

Thursday May 8, 2025