Facilities Manager

Cleveland-Cliffs said third-quarter EBITDA doubled, helped by tariffs that have cut steel imports by 35% to 40% from levels before Section 232. Management called the trade environment "rational" and said mills ran at full utilisation, pushing unit costs $17 per ton below guidance. The company expects adjusted EBITDA of more than $4 billion in 2027, assuming current market conditions. Capital expenditure should rise from $700 million in 2026 to just over $1 billion in 2027. Free cash flow will go first to debt reduction, with leverage targeted below the 2.0x-2.5x range by mid-2027. Management ruled out issuing stock. Over 55% of clients have signed 2027 contracts, with "take-or-pay" clauses becoming the norm. The Burns Harbor furnace reline is delayed to April 2028 to meet demand.

What is Stelco and why has it become a flashpoint in the Canada-U.S. trade war? Hamilton-based Stelco Holdings Inc. sent shockwaves through an already embattled Canadian steel industry when U.S. parent company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced on Sept. 28 it would indefinitely idle its Hamilton plant and lay off hundreds of workers. In response, Industry Minister Mélanie Joly has threatened legal action if Stelco does not preserve its Ontario jobs, citing commitments agreed upon under the Investment Canada Act when Cleveland-Cliffs first assumed ownership of the company. Joly's moves are the latest development in the growing saga of Stelco, a company with a storied history that has become a flashpoint in the Canada-United States trade war. What is Stelco and how did it come to be? Stelco, the Canadian-based steelmaker that helped build Hamilton into "Steel City," has been around for more than a century. It was originally incorporated in 1910 as the Steel Company of Canada, an amalgamation of five already-existing iron and steel companies: Hamilton Steel and Iron Co.; Montreal Rolling Mills Co.; Canada Screw Co.; Canada Bolt and Nut Co. and Dominion Wire Manufacturing Company. Hamilton was the ideal base for operations at the time since it was already home to limestone deposits (limestone being a key ingredient in steelmaking) while coal and iron ore could easily be transported by boat to the city's port, said Marvin Ryder, associate professor at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business. During the 1920s, Stelco had grown to become the largest steelmaker in Canada. The company hit its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, when Stelco employed about 25,000 workers. Stelco's management later began the shift toward automating more of its steel production and today, though the company still produces plenty of steel, it is no longer one of Hamilton's biggest employers, Ryder said. "In a sense, Stelco in Hamilton was hollowed out more than a decade ago," said Ryder, adding that Stelco stopped producing primary steel at its Hamilton Works facility in 2013. The facility receives its steel from the Lake Erie Works mill in Nanticoke, about 60 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, coats it in zinc to prevent rusting and rolls it into thin sheets for distribution to other industries, such as the automotive sector, said Ryder. The Hamilton facility also operates coke ovens, which bake coal into a carbon-rich material used to make steel. This coke is then transported to the Nanticoke mill for steel production. Ryder said the Hamilton workers who operate the coke ovens are not being affected by the layoffs.

Cleveland-Cliffs said third-quarter adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $612 million from $286 million in the second quarter. Higher shipments, stronger selling prices and lower unit costs drove the result, which beat the company's $575 million outlook. The steelmaker expects fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of about $715 million. It sees a path to more than $4 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2027, helped by contract renewals, firmer pricing and a bigger contribution from Stelco. Cleveland-Cliffs postponed the Burns Harbor C blast furnace reline to April 2028, preserving about 500,000 tons of 2027 production. It aims to cut leverage below 2.5 times by mid-2027 using operating cash flow and asset-sale proceeds, and does not plan to issue stock.