Cleveland-Cliffs reduced steel products sales by 6.2% y/y in Q2

The American steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs saw its external sales of steel products fall by 6.2% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, to 4.03 million short tonnes. This is stated in the steel producer’s report.

The second-quarter result was due to prolonged downtime caused by maintenance in April and May. Hot-rolled steel accounted for 45% of total shipments for the period.

For the period January–June 2026, sales of steel products fell by 3.5% – to 8.13 million short tonnes.

The company is maintaining its forecast for steel shipments for the full year 2026 at 16.5–17 million short tonnes.

Cliffs’ average steel selling prices in the second quarter rose by 10.7% year-on-year to $1,124 per short tonne.

As Cliffs’ Chairman and CEO, Lorenco Gonçalves, noted, the domestic market remains robust, and the current global turmoil continues to highlight the importance of a thriving local steel industry.

According to him, demand continues to grow, imports remain low, and order fulfilment times are increasing.

“Our production volumes for the automotive sector remained high throughout the second quarter and will rise even further in the third, which will help to better cover fixed costs as our processing lines operate at higher utilisation rates,” said Gonçalves.

In addition, the CEO of Cliffs noted a significant improvement in the Canadian market, which creates the conditions for Stelco (Cleveland-Cliffs acquired its Canadian competitor in 2024) to return to generating substantial profits.

It is worth recalling that, for the full year 2025, Cleveland-Cliffs increased its external steel sales volume by 4% year-on-year – to 16.2 million short tonnes, with hot-rolled steel accounting for 40% of this total. The average net selling price for steel products last year stood at $1,005 per short tonne.