Cleveland-Cliffs reports $470M Q2 loss

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has reported a net loss of $470 million in the second quarter of 2025, following a nearly equally unprofitable first quarter, when the Cleveland-based steelmaking and iron mining firm lost $483 million.

Cliffs President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves says finished steel pricing in the United States this year remains strong but cites a single five-year company contract that has been a drain on the firm’s bottom line.

“Very importantly, the end of the five-year contract to supply slabs from Indiana Harbor to one of our competitors comes in less than five months,” he says. “Due to the abnormally low index-based prices for slabs we have been exposed to in the last few months, this contract became a negative contributor to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) and will not be extended."

The firm’s revenue total rose to more than $4.93 billion in the second quarter, increasing 6.6 percent from Cliffs' first quarter 2025 figure of about $4.63 billion.

The company also owns the Detroit-based Ferrous Processing & Trading network of metals recycling facilities, but that business unit’s results are not reported separately on financial figures released by Cleveland-Cliffs.

Cliffs’ cost of goods sold also increased by 2.45 percent quarter on quarter, leading to an operating loss of $498 million in the first quarter of 2025, down 7.4 percent from the $538 million operating loss in the prior quarter.

“Our second-quarter results demonstrate that the footprint optimization initiatives announced a few months ago are already generating a positive impact on both costs and revenues,” Goncalves says. “In the second quarter, we also further reduced inventories, which drove a meaningful release in working capital during the quarter.

“Our return to generating meaningful free cash flow and rapidly reducing debt is in sight. Domestic steel pricing remains strong, we have visibility into our cost reductions and our order book remains healthy.”

He also expresses optimism regarding the wider economy and decisions being made in Washington.

“Cliffs is a major supplier of steel to the automotive manufacturers, and the Trump administration continues to show strong support to both the domestic steel and the domestic automotive sectors,” Goncalves says.

“We have started to see the positive impact that tariffs have on domestic manufacturing, protecting domestic jobs and national security. We expect this trend to continue, promoting the resurgence of the American automotive industry supported by a thriving domestic steel industry.”

In his comments, Goncalves does not address prospects for the company’s Canadian steelmaking operations, consisting of Stelco Holdings blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace and downstream facilities acquired by Cliffs in 2024.

The Trump administration has levied a 50 percent tariff on steel shipped from Canada to the U.S., seemingly curtailing or prompting a sales shift for what historically has been a double-digit percentage of Stelco’s output.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump sent a personal letter to Canada’s prime minister indicating he intends to stack another 35 percent tariff on that steel rate in August unless the nation can reach a negotiated settlement with the U.S. government.

In comments accompanying Cliffs’ second-quarter results, Goncalves points to positive aspects of the Trump administration’s tariff policies and hints that his company may have an opportunity to sell stakes in its mill network to overseas buyers.

“Going forward, foreign competitors need to acquire steel capacity within the United States if they want to participate in this desirable market,” Goncalves says. “As a publicly traded America-based company centered on automotive, electrical steels, stainless and plate, Cleveland-Cliffs’ assets, business and footprint are uniquely positioned to benefit from this new reality.”