Cleveland-Cliffs reduced steel sales by 5% y/y in 2024

American steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs reduced its foreign steel sales by 5% year-on-year to 15.6 million short tons in 2024. This is stated in the company’s report.

Of this volume, hot-rolled steel accounted for 36%.

Sales of steel products in the fourth quarter of last year amounted to 3.8 million short tons (-5.2% y/y).

Revenue from steel production in 2024 amounted to $18.5 billion, with approximately $5.6 billion, or 30%, attributable to sales to direct customers in the automotive industry.

According to Lorenko Gonsalves, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of Cliffs, the results in 2024 were the result of the worst steel demand since 2010, except for the Covid-19 pandemic. The company was heavily impacted by a decline in domestic car production and an oversupply of imported steel, which led to unreasonably low prices for steel products. This impact was particularly evident in the fourth quarter.

Gonsalves also touched on the Trump administration’s moves. According to him, the new trade and industrial policy should benefit Cleveland-Cliffs more than other producers. According to the company’s CEO, as of the end of February, Cliffs is on track for a sharp recovery in 2025.

“We are already seeing the first signals of this recovery in the auto industry, index pricing and our overall order book. In addition, with the addition of Stelco’s non-automotive, spot-priced order book, we are now even better positioned to achieve this growth than in previous cycles as we are less reliant on fixed-price contracts,” he said.

Last summer, it was reported that Cliffs was buying Canadian competitor Stelco Holdings Inc. for $2.5 billion. Stelco has two operating sites in Ontario – the modern and low-cost integrated steel plant Lake Erie Works and the Hamilton Works, which is engaged in steel finishing and coke production. The company annually ships about 2.6 million short tons of flat products to service center customers.