Column: Trump 2.0 won’t reverse Biden’s critical minerals push
Donald Trump has described the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as a "green scam" and vowed to repeal it after he returns to the White House in January.
US-based integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) has signalled to the market it expects to report first-quarter 2023 revenues of about $5.2 billion after it shipped 4.1 million net tons of steel.
The revenue forecast is slightly below the $6 billion of first-quarter income recorded last year and dead-on with average analyst estimates for the current period.
The Ohio-based company is North America’s largest flat-rolled steel producer and controls a vast network of mines and shipping lanes on the Great Lakes carrying iron ore and iron ore pellets between mines, smelters, and steel plants.
The company said in its Apr. 11 preliminary Q1 results announcement that its adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) were likely to be about $200 million, “significantly higher” than the $123 million reported for the previous quarter due to unit cost reductions.
“As we start the second quarter and continue to execute on further cost reductions as planned, we are also enjoying the full benefits of the meaningful price increases Cleveland-Cliffs has implemented for this year, which cover contracts with automotive and non-auto clients, as well as transactional sales,” chairman, president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in the statement. “With that, we expect Q2 EBITDA will be multiple times higher than Q1 EBITDA.”
On Apr. 3, the company announced it was increasing its spot market base prices for all carbon hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel products by a minimum of $100 per net ton, effective immediately with all new orders. Its minimum base price for hot rolled steel is now $1,300 per net ton.
