Cliffs foresees red ink in late 2024

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., an iron and steelmaking company that also operates a network of metal recycling facilities, is expecting to record a loss of about $85 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.

The company's acquisition of Canada-based Stelco Holdings has created additional accounting integration aspects to calculating its final numbers, but Cliffs plans to announce its final results Feb. 24.

In its preliminary announcement, the Cleveland-based company reports shipping 3.8 million tons of steel in last year’s fourth quarter and recorded revenue of approximately $4.3 billion companywide.

The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss of $85 million in the fourth quarter will still allow the company to record a full year 2024 EBITDA figure of approximately $775 million, according to Cliffs. That figure rises to closer to $1.2 billion when adding in Stelco operations.

For the full year, Cliffs shipped 15.6 million tons of steel and totaled revenue of approximately $19.2 billion, which CEO Lourenco Goncalves says is disappointing.

“Other than COVID-impacted 2020, 2024 was the worst year for domestic steel demand since 2010,” he says.

“As the largest supplier to the automotive industry in North America, we were especially impacted by muted demand from this sector in the second half of the year. This was the primary driver of our weaker results, particularly in the fourth quarter, which we expect to be the trough as we look forward.”

Goncalves expresses support for tariffs if or when they come to pass.

“We applaud President Trump for taking decisive action on tariffs. Cleveland-Cliffs is a firm believer in the long-term positive impact that tariffs can play to make America a manufacturing superpower once again. A level playing field in steel will set the foundation to usher in a new golden era and a manufacturing renaissance that will make America strong again.”

Looking forward, Goncalves says, “So far into this new year, we have already seen improvements in our order book, both automotive and non-automotive, and are confident that the manufacturing-friendly items on President Trump’s agenda will have an outsized benefit on Cleveland-Cliffs. This includes the recently announced tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China and the expectation that there is more to come on steel specifically.”

Regarding the firm’s Canadian acquisition, he says, “Stelco has been a major contributor since day , and a substantial portion of our expected synergies are already in motion. Based on their experience in 2018, we expect Stelco will benefit from steel tariffs as well. We look forward to the success in 2025 that all of these developments will ultimately bring.”

Cliffs also announced it has upsized and priced $850 million aggregate principal amount of Senior Guaranteed Notes due 2031. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the notes for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of borrowings under its asset-based credit facility.