Replies to post #22196 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

CLF CC notes—Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, CEO Lourenço Gonçalves was shooting bullets at sell-side analysts throughout the 1Q20 CC.

More important, LG asserted that US consumers are once again buying cars.

LG also said that CLF expects final construction on the HBI plant to resume in the next few months, so that commercial output of HBI can still happen during 2H20. LG praised Ohio Gov. DeWine for allowing CLF’s other production facilities in Ohio to remain operational during the pandemic.

Finally, LG stated that CLF has enough capital now and does not plan to issue new debt or equity in the near future. Reducing net debt by $181M recently was a big help (#msg-155150398).

[DewDiligence]

CLF 2Q20 results:

http://www.clevelandcliffs.com/English/news-center/news-releases/news-releases-details/2020/Cleveland-Cliffs-Inc.-Reports-Second-Quarter-2020-Results/default.aspx

Cliffs' Chairman, President, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said: “The second quarter was an unusual one, with the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hitting our clients. Our main concern then was preserving our liquidity during a time we were not able to ship steel to our clients in all markets we serve, and particularly in our main end-market, the automotive industry.

As of today, our clients are back to healthy levels of operation, and our liquidity now sits solidly above the $1.1 billion mark. That happened way ahead of our conservative assumptions, creating a very exciting business prospect for a strong second semester [i.e. 2H20].”