Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (CLF) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jamie Sychak, and I'd like to welcome you to the Butler Works. I'm here today proudly to present our CEO, Lourenco Goncalves. It's my honor to introduce him. Five years ago, this plant, the Butler Works we had 100 people laid off. It was the only time in my career that I had ever seen that, and we were actually slated to close on our predecessor. AK Steel. Shortly thereafter, in March of 2020, Lourenco and Cleveland-Cliffs bought AK Steel, and he himself came out at our union hall and assured us that was not going to happen. He secured our jobs here and secured the production of electrical steel for the security and electrical independence for the United States ever since. He recognized the importance of electrical steel to our power grid. And the reason we were going to close was from unfair subsidized dumping from foreign entities, primarily Japan and China. And he worked with -- closely with the Trump administration and got some of those loopholes, where they were circumventing some of the trade rules and tariffs and stuff through Mexico and Canada, and worked to get those things sealed up for us, thus saving our jobs at that time. Last year, we had another victory, where he, again, assured us we weren't going to close. And true to his word, here we are, and we are a thriving plant today. We have great plans for the future, and things have never looked better for us. So we went from nearly closed 5 years ago and, thankfully, we have the visionary and the leadership of Lourenco Goncalves here. So please join me in welcoming our CEO, our leader, Lourenco. Thank you.

So good afternoon, everyone. It's a great pleasure today to be here. I just note, when I was in the waiting room, that today is January 13, 2025. On January 13, 1998, I came to this country with my wife, 3 children, 13 bags and $59,650 in my pocket. That's all I had, everything I had. My family and a few money that were my all savings of my lifetime in Brazil when I was a very successful executive. But I worked in an environment that was not conducive of honest people to making a living the right way. There was only 1 place in the world for me, and that was the United States. So coincidentally, today is January 13. So today is the 27th anniversary of my presence in the greatest country in the world, that's the United States. And I'm a proud American because when you write your articles, sometimes you -- in a way, to make it look less impactful on what we have been doing here for a long time, you said that Brazilian-born Lourenco Goncalves, the foreigner, foreign-born Lourenco Goncalves. Let me remind you, particularly because [indiscernible], which I saved from bankruptcy, then I've listed in the Nasdaq, then I took it private, then I made a lot of acquisitions, and then I sold 10 years later. When I got there, it was -- the enterprise value was $30 million. When I sold, the enterprise value was $1.3 billion in 10 years. It made a lot of people do well, generate a lot of jobs. And out of my 25 locations, [indiscernible] say, 9 were located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. So I know Philadelphia, I know Pittsburgh, Ambridge. And then I go down Langhorne in New York, a location that only Pennsylvanians know the name and know how they are. You've got to know your people. You've got to work with your people. That's how we turned Metals USA into a big success. The company still exists inside Reliance Steel & Aluminum, the largest service center company in the country, and we're very proud that they still have the identity of Metals USA inside the company. And right here, in the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania, history matters. History matters. A track record matters. And there's no better place for me to be here than here today in the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania, in Butler, sacred grounds. Very, very recently, things very, very important happened here in Butler, Pennsylvania. Things happen for a reason, always. And we're going to have a new time in this country, a time that workers will be center, manufacturing will bring middle class back, American-owned and operated companies like Cleveland-Cliffs will lead the charge. That's what you're going to have, and that's what we're about to bring. So anyway, today here -- oh, one more thing for people, particularly people in the press, and I appreciate you all coming. It's a pleasure to have you here, particularly the guys that write about me not knowing me. So today, you're going to know a little bit more about me. You can still write whatever you want, but at least you're going to be knowing that you're not right in the right things. You can still do it, but good people, and there's a lot of good people in the press, the same way there are a lot of good people that go on politics, not needing to go on politics. These people, at the end of the day, they're good people, always, always prevail. I want you to know that good people always prevail. But anyway, being here today to celebrate 5 years of success of AK Steel and 5 years of success of Butler Works is super relevant to me, incredibly relevant to me. Five years ago, I was in the process of acquiring AK Steel. I approached previously [indiscernible] At Butler Works, this plant here was about to be shut down. They already had the plan in place to shut down Butler Works. AK Steel believed that there was no solution to save this plant. This plant was the last man standing, the last plant in this country producing grain-oriented electrical steels. What's grain-oriented electrical steels? Grain-oriented electrical steel is the steel that goes in a production of transformers. What's a transformer? Look at a pole, up in a pole on the street, that's a transformer. Look in front of your house, if you live in a neighborhood, that thing -- [ mount pad ] on the front of your house that's a transformer. It moves electricity -- exchange voltage from high voltage to low voltage and vice versa to move electricity around. Without transformers, you do not move electricity. So that's why it's national security. You cannot have a country, particular country like the United States of America, not being able to produce the steels that go inside a transformer. Because transformers are literally everywhere, from in front of the house, on the pole in front of your house, on the [ mount pad ], transform in the middle of your neighborhood, all the way to power plants, big refineries, everything. You do not want to have these things produced abroad. In the United States of America, back in 2020, not too long ago, only 5 years ago, was about to shut down the last plant able to produce this type of steel, grain-oriented electrical steels, transformers. I'm not talking about non-oriented electrical steels. That's for equipment that rotates like motors in a car, particularly motors of an electric vehicle. That's a different product. We also produce that, but I was particularly concerned about grain-oriented electrical steels. The grid -- the electrical grid, national security, that's national security. This is not rhetoric. It's national security. Well, we approached, at that time, Secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross. And Wilbur Ross facilitated my contact with a great American, that was the United States Trade Representative for President Trump in the first Trump 45, Trump 1.0, and a guy named Robert Lighthizer. As soon as I got to Bob Lighthizer, we saw light. And with Bob Lighthizer, we got the year of President Trump, and the rest is history. We were able to explain why this plant was going down. It's not because we're incompetent. Actually, we produce grain-oriented electrical steels under a spec that's called the Armco spec because this company used to be Armco in the past. It then became AK. The A is Armco and the K was Kawasaki steel from Japan. So we did not get technology from the Japanese. Actually, they took our technology from Armco and took it to Japan. And what did they do next? Well, I will give you the short version. The reason why this plant was going down was illegal imports. Dumped grain-oriented electrical steels direct into the country and also indirectly particularly through transshipments from -- through Mexico, from Japan and China, in a smaller extent, but [indiscernible] large. This plant was saved during the first time in office of President Trump, and I will never, never forget the great contribution that Bob Lighthizer did in order to -- for us to accomplish what we accomplished. We would not be able to accomplish that if I did not have the partnership that I have with the workers, with my team, with my people. We were together in solidarity. That's a union. Yes, unions are good. Unions help good people to stay together. And when good people do things together, nobody can stop. And when good people do things together with people that represent the capital. We are the United States. We are not controlled by anyone outside. We are not controlled by the money. We are not controlled by subsidized things. We are not controlled by free money that only comes to this country to suck the blood and wash the brain of the younger generations. We need to stop that. If you don't stop that, you're going to have the same problem over and over and over again. It's time to stop. That's what we did here. And that's what we're going to continue to do here. I know that everybody talks about China, but I talk badly about China as well. China is bad. China is evil. China is horrible. But Japan is worse. Japan is a lot worse because everything, everything -- are you crying, are you laughing, what are you doing? Well, you're thinking. You shake your head when you think. What's your name? I'm sorry. Antonio. It sounds American, like Lourenco. That's the country we are in, people from everywhere. By the way, do you know where Andrew Carnegie was from? Scotland? You are not an American either. United States, Antonio. But pay attention to what I'm saying because you're young enough to learn and put to good use, okay? I'm watching you. By the way, back to where I was. Japan is evil. Japan taught China a lot of things, including making steel. Baosteel was built by Nippon Steel. Without Baosteel, we will not have China. Without Nippon Steel teaching, we'll not have Baosteel. Also, Japan to China how to dump, how to have overcapacity, how to overproduce. What is overcapacity? It's simple to understand. Everybody knows that Japan is aging. Everybody knows that Japan is shrinking. What people don't know is that Japan used to produce 100 million tons a year and consume 100 million tons a year. It was okay. Even when Japan was producing 110 million tons and consuming 100 million, it was still kind of okay. Right now, Japan produces 80 million tons and consumes 45. So they have 35 million tons to export. And they will have to play somewhere. Guess where they are going to put their steel? Not in markets that are enemy countries. They will put this in countries that are friends because friends tend to help friends, particularly when the friend at the receiving end is naive, open, embracing to people that don't deserve. Of course, we need to continue to do that for everybody that deserves, but not with people that do not deserve. So anyway, Japan taught China how to export. Overcapacity was invented in Japan, not in China. China just made it a lot worse. It's like, well, if they are going away with crime and the United States still believe their friends, we can do this, too. We are not even friends. That's how overcapacity became a world problem, and the victims mainly in Europe, all the big names that you imagine are gone in Europe, British Steel owned by China and India, it's Jingye and Tata. thyssenkrupp tried to come to the United States, failed miserably, now shrinking. [indiscernible] same thing. People remember the traditional names of steel companies one by one. Here in the United States, it's the same thing. Where is Bethlehem? Gone. Where is LTV? Gone. Where is England? Gone. Where's Wheeling-Pittsburgh? Gone. Keep going. Republic, J&L all the names, Lukens, all the names. Guess what? The difference here in the United States, they are all inside Cleveland-Cliffs. They're all inside the umbrella of Cleveland-Cliffs. [indiscernible] and his Grandpa working for us is Cleveland-Cliffs. Here was Armco and then AK, in Butler, Cleveland-Cliffs. That's what consolidation is. What we have in all these plants that I nominated here, they all survived under Cleveland-Cliffs, with Cleveland-Cliffs. We acquired AK Steel. We grew AK Steel. We hired people. We increased the employment. We did the same thing with ArcelorMittal when they offered themselves to us. I didn't go after them. They offered themselves to us. ArcelorMittal, Metals USA, ArcelorMittal USA, that was the next one after we acquired AK was offered to me by father and son Lakshmi Mittal and Aditya Mittal, and we bought during the pandemic. [indiscernible] to become a company that made $23 billion in revenues. Check the numbers, $2 billion in revenues, 2019. $23 billion in revenues 2 years later, 11.5x. How can you do that? Yes, we did. So go ahead, do your homework, you'll see. It's possible when you have management and workers working together. And its unions in general, that's not just U.S. [indiscernible]. By the way here, I have my dear friend, James Sychak, here, President of the UAW Local 3303. And I also have Eric Spider -- Spiker? Yes. Don't know if I met you [indiscernible] Cleveland Cavaliers. Eric is the President of the UAW in Zanesville, Ohio. It's a sister location of Butler, and they finish the stuff that we do here. 1,200 jobs saved here, another 200 in Zanesville. Total 1,400 jobs saved. And it's not just saved, it's not just we saved the jobs, we transformed the plant that was about to shut down. And that's what we're celebrating here today, while saving national security and saving our ability to produce steel to the grid. We are able to do all that and growing the company, growing the facility. We're still doing that because we -- this country needs transformers so badly, I'm going downstream with a brand-new plant to produce transformers ourselves in Wilton, West Virginia, another victim of dumping. At that time, it was tinplate. We could not afford competing, particularly because in the last anti-dumping fight against the Japanese with tinplate, U.S. Steel mysteriously decided not to join. So it was basically Cleveland-Cliffs and the USW fighting without U.S. Steel. It's like fighting with the hand behind the back. So we did not get what we need. And unfortunately, [indiscernible] orders over there. That will generate another shift here at Butler to produce more grain-oriented electrical steels. We're going to be high and growing, and we are going to produce more transformers. By the way, the lead time for a transformer today in this country is 9 months, and this is for just maintenance. I can only imagine what's going to be needed in California right now because they're not prepared for hurricanes or wildfires or anything like that. But we are catching up. This plant in Weirton, West Virginia that I'm putting together with a lot of support from the local USW with my friend, Mark Glips, and the local president and my dear friend, former governor, now senator, Jim Justice, we are going to produce state-of-the-art transformers over there with our people, unionize the workforce, generating a lot of jobs, and it will be a beautiful brand-new, state-of-the-art plant to produce transformers that this country needs. That's national security. So back to the track on Butler here. There's no better way to explain why steel is related to national security and being here in Butler. So I think you guys got the picture. You can't afford relying on imported steels for imported transformers to keep your lights on. They can control the grid through transformers. They can control if you get or not get electricity inside your house. As simple as that. Butler is the best example that American ownership of steel plants can support existing jobs, generate new jobs, generate profits. This is the [indiscernible] our national security. Then I'd like to pivot your attention to the attempted sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, a deal that was recently blocked by President Biden on national security concerns. Let me repeat one more time. The U.S. Steel attempted sale to Nippon Steel has been blocked on national security concerns by the President of the United States. It doesn't matter if you like him or you don't like him, if you're an American, until January 20, 2025, he is the President of the United States. And he exercised his powers as President of the United States. He blocked that deal. And that deal was supposed to be abandoned, that's the legal term, by the parties until February 2. And now it's [ June 18 ], big deal. Doesn't matter. The deal is blocked, continue to be blocked, and they have a little more time to unwind their partnership and to abandon the deal. That's the term, abandon the deal. Biden block the deal. That's a fact. But President Trump was the first to say, "I will block it." There's a part of me that believes that because Trump said that, and by the way, repeated several times, "I will block it. It can't happen. It will not happen. If I were President of the United States, I would have already blocked it." And more recently, he said, clearly sending a message to Nippon Steel, "I'm coming. Buyer, be aware." He said that. You heard. I heard. The press heard. Trump heard -- I'm sorry, Biden heard. Everybody heard. So Biden finally did what JD Vance -- Senator JD Vance, now Vice President-elect JD Vance; and Senator Marco Rubio, soon-to-be Secretary of State Marco Rubio; and a great Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley, said in a letter to him on May 9, to him, Biden. "Hey, President Biden, you are President of the United States, you have the authority to undo this deal now." By the way, in case you don't know, the article yada-yada-yada of the code or the article yada-yada-yada of the code, you can use it. Go ahead and do it. But he didn't do it because there's some much division inside the cabinet. So many people coming -- so diverse, so much diversity on that cabinet, including people that I don't know if they really have the United States in their hearts. Good thing is that we have some people over there that are really good. Some cabinet members, particularly the women, they're so good. They are so strong. They are so above politics. They resist the pressure. But you also have guys that after President Biden was finally, finally he did what he had to do, the very first thing that Secretary of State Tony Blinken did was to go to Japan to eat sushi with the Japanese. What happened next? Recently, the Prime Minister of Japan, at least it was reported in the press, so if it's in the press, it's true. You are the press. So you know what I'm talking about. So I assume it's true because I read it that Prime Minister Kishida, demanded President Biden to explain why he blocked the deal on national security concerns. [indiscernible] I just would like this Prime Minister to wait 7 more days and repeat the same demand to Donald J. Trump. That would be a fun day in life for me because it's the President of the United States. It doesn't matter if their name is Jimmy Carter or Barack Obama or George Washington or Abraham Lincoln or Donald Trump or Joseph Biden, it's the President of the United States, united States of America. Japan, be aware, you don't understand who you are. You did not learn anything since 1945. You did not learn how good we are, how gracious we are, how magnanimous we are, how forgiving we are. If you want to learn what we think about Japan, what we have for you, Japan, go to YouTube and check an interview of a very young Donald Trump in 1987 talking to Larry King about Japan. Just put Trump, Larry King, CNN, 1987. We are tired of being taken advantage of. We need to change this narrative. Come to the Midwest. Come to see places like Gary, Indiana. Come to see places like Braddock, Pennsylvania. Came to see places like Butler, Pennsylvania. Come to Toledo, Ohio. Come to where we live. It's tough out here. It's great in Japan. It's great in China. It's great everywhere. Stop sucking our blood. We are Americans. We love Americans. We love the United States of America. We don't have any ill intent, ill feelings about you. But we like us first. It's America first, and we are not ashamed of that. We don't feel bad about that. We feel good because if you do good, the world will do good. The world will be peaceful. But the very first thing, we need to feed our families. We need to have our needs taken care of. We need to have democracy. We need to have stability. We need to have the well-being of Americans. If we have that, the work can be peaceful. Other than that, you stop sucking our blood. Enough is enough. That's why we need America first. That's why we need to defend national security. That's why we need to stop [indiscernible]. That was my original bid. $7.3 billion was my original bid. Then an auction started, and the price kept going up, and I played. My last offer was $54 per share, and the Nippon Steel offer was $55 per share. My number before the previous bid was $47.50. I went from $47.50 to $54. I don't know what number was theirs, but I know it was lower than mine. And they miraculously went to $55. Do you guys just smell a rat? I do. I was born at night, but not last night. I put up $54 because I was in the firm belief that nobody would get there. But Nippon Steel did. And by the way, the press leaked a lot during the bidding process, names of companies. I knew each one of them. And because we are good in what we do, myself and my team, we knew exactly how much each one of these companies could bid. But one name was never leaked to the press, Nippon Steel. Very well informed, the people, like you guys, you knew a lot of names. I promise you, you never heard Nippon Steel. Because if CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters did not know CNBC, nobody did -- did not Nippon Steel. Nobody knew. So he called me, I said, "No, you did not hear right. It's not Nippon Steel. No, no, no, it's Nippon Steel. And then 10 minutes later, the press release hit, and it was Nippon Steel. I said, how come? It never leaked, not even a tiny bit. But anyway, they sued me, and they sued the government. I love this suit because then we're going to play in the legal system about the United States. And welcome to the legal system of the United States. There are a few things that are great and some things that are very real. It was great that the presumption of innocence is paramount. It's different from Japan. And even though it's in the constitution that there is a presumption of innocence, that's not how it happens in real life over there. It's different. I'm not going to elaborate on that. Go do your homework. But here, the presumption of innocence is real. And here, when the CEO of Nippon Steel, Eiji Hashimoto, calls me a thug and a mafia boss. I am sure that he will be able to prove that in court because I already initiated my investigation on how to import dogs from Japan because if he can't prove that, I'm going to go after him personally, and I will take his last penny, his house, his car and his dog, and I'm going to bring his dog to the United States. So Eiji Hashimoto, you're going to be deposed. No Zoom, it will be in person. You selected the Western District of Pennsylvania. Welcome to the United States. I'm going to depose you there, and I'll be in the room. You're going to see it across me. You're going to have to call me a thug and a mafia boss on my face. And then we're going to have to prove it. As simple as that Well, you chose that, not me. My lawyer sued this lawsuit because it's so baseless, so crazy, so tinfoil hatch type of things that my lawyers will have to dismiss that. I will try to convince not to because I want that day, that there will be a good day. I think there are only 2 people that like to be in this situation, that's me and President Trump. We have a thick skin, and we know what we are doing. And we can handle, so that's very okay. Anyway, President Trump already said that United States should not -- steel should not be sold to Japan. I know that there are a lot of people that are waiting for him to change his mind. That's why I recommended you to look at this video from 1987. So someone that said that in '87, then said it again in the 90s, again in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and all the way to last week, or maybe last weekend when he met with Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania. He doesn't change his mind that often, especially about this. Anyway, we also know how to work with the local officials, the mayor, the sheriff. By the way, sheriff is here. Thanks so much for being here. The Chairwoman of the Butler County Board of Commissions, all the members of the Butler County Board of Commissioners. The governor, Governor Shapiro is a Democrat. He is a man of the people. He wants what's right for the people, and I appreciate my friendship with Josh Shapiro. I believe that he's navigating a fine line. You should have come here to Butler more often. I was with him here in this room. We know he's a busy guy. He probably forgot what we showed him last time he was here. Lt. Davis, Lt. Governor Davis, he was here with him. They don't show up in the same room very often. For us here, they both came, Josh and Davis, and I was very happy that they are both here. Anyway, I feel good about what we have going. We could have helped them more to educate the mayors of the small towns in Western Pennsylvania that were never treated properly by U.S. Steel. I have no ill intent against these mayors. They are good people. They are like my people here in Butler. They just didn't have the opportunity to work with us, but they will. And I am sure, 100% sure that they will support me and are going to together make United States Steel great as it was before. We are going to make this thing to happen. The problem is we can't make anything happen until U.S. -- the current management and the current Board of U.S. Steel make the decision to abandon, that's the term, it's harsh, abandon the merger agreement with Nippon Steel. Until they do that, we can't do anything. We have our hands tied. If I present an offer today, they can't take it. So the very first thing that needs to happen, the merger agreement needs to be abandoned. If it's not going to be February 2, and they are trying legal tricks to make CFIUS to be extended because they would like to change the mind of President Trump, I do not believe that President Donald J. Trump will change his mind. What I do believe is that the new CFIUS has the same power of the old CFIUS. If the old CFIUS is still in place, extended to June 18, the new CFIUS can come in and push back to February 2. Because they have the same power of moving the date, that they have to abandon their merger agreement. I have done anything to have that happening before they start accuse me that I've now manipulated a new CFIUS. He's just an American, given my opinion. [indiscernible] I am of the opinion that the new CFIUS should think if they need more time to continue to brainwash the mayors and the [indiscernible] U.S. Steel, the company that was, still should be. Stop crying wolf and believe that U.S. Steel is poor. It's not. It's a great company with great people in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in Indiana and in Michigan, and in the middle of the country in Illinois, down in Granite City, and in Alabama and in California. Why we have support from John Garamendi of California? Why we have support from Ro Khanna of California? Why we have support from Marcy Kaptur in Lorraine? Why we have support from Frank Mrvan in Indiana? Why we have support from the new senator of Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, who is showing to be a real deal, real senator? We have support everywhere. So please, members of the press, pay attention to this type of support that we have everywhere. Don't repeat the same thing. Please don't say any more that my offer was $7.3 billion. My offer was $257 million lower than the offer that they took. Why? Because it was $55 per share against $54 per share that was my offer. $1 times the float of 257 million shares makes for $257 million. No matter what number used. Use 14.9 million minus [ 257 million ] you have the number. If you use [ 50 ] minus 257 million, that's my number. It's $1 per share times 257 million. So why they did not take my offer, and they took Nippon Steel offer? They said that because I'm -- between me and Dave McCall, we manipulate Biden, all the cabinet secretaries that voted for us, and now we're doing the same with the Trump administration. That's a lot of power, no doubt about it. If Vladimir Putin recognize how much power I have, they would recruit me. Or Xi Jinping, my goodness, how crazy is that? So that's pretty much it. [indiscernible] what's the [ strange ] messages? One was sent here in Butler, PA. I was talking to the chef a few moments ago. A man that doesn't like to look at [ data or charts ] looked to the side to look at the chart, and that's where the bullet, instead of going through his head, it went just through his ear. Anyway, it happened here. So I'm here with my people to show the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that we can do good working with people, working with the workers. And we still can make money. This place makes money. This place is not a nonprofit. It's not a charity. We have technology. Our technology to produce electrical steels is better than the Japanese who copied us, and we continue to improve. Our technology reduction, the use of hydrogen was not tested inside a small pilot blast furnace in a lab like Nippon Steel is bragging about. They say that they tested that in a 12-cubic meter blast furnace. What's a 12-cubic meter pilot blast furnace? 12 cubic is 4x3. So let's do 2 times 2, times 3, giving 12, 2 meters, 2 meters and 3 meters, makes for 12 cubic feet. So 2 meters is [indiscernible], there's [indiscernible]. That's the size. About the same. Point guard, another point guard in the center, that's the size. And they are bragging, "We have the technology." Well, we tested with hydrogen. We also spent $1 billion to build our plant, our direct reduction plant in Toledo, Ohio. And that's where Marcy Kaptur, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the longest-serving congresswoman in Congress, got to know me. Because she couldn't believe that I would transform an empty field at the port of Toledo into the most beautiful, most modern state-of-the-art direct reduction plant in the world. That's what we have there. So we understand technology. Do you know why? Because we are in the United States. We have the resources, we have the brains, we have the people and we have the willpower to get it done. Talking about technology doesn't fly. We supply all the [indiscernible] We are the forgotten people trying to be seen just because we deserve, just because we have been doing the right things for so long and nobody wants to listen. So I'm happy that you are here. I appreciate the press coming. I'll be more than happy to answer your questions. And I will answer as much as I can. And I hope that you ask questions because I'm ready and prepared to answer.

Yes, ma'am?

Sorry, one second. Can you introduce yourself real quick?

Amy Hudak with WPX News for the NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh. Do you have the blessing from Governor Josh Shapiro on this potential bid?

I don't know what to leave what a blessing is?

Has he supported this potential bid?

What has been reported? Can you tell me what...

Governor Josh Shapiro, Is he in favor of this potential deal?

Yes. I spoke with Josh Shapiro this morning. He called me on my cell phone. We have a very good conversation. And the answer is yes. And I also told him, Governor, please, don't do anything with the mayor. So I'll get to the mayors when I get the company -- and you and I and President Trump, we work together to make sure that the mayors are in good shape. With Josh Shapiro, Donald Trump, Senator Fetterman and Senator McCormick, we're in good shape. And I was forgetting 1 guy that has been with me all the way, Congressman Deluzio. Great guy. Yes, sir. Where it was?

2010. So it's been a little while. That's down in [indiscernible], Palm Beach. Yes, sir.

Why I'm here? When my daughter asked that question today, that kind of stop doing this, why don't go to fall on this. Stop. yes go ahead.

Is there a strategy for Big River in the event of the acquisition going through. There were some reports out this morning about a potential carve-out. Is that still in the works? Or is it being discussed. How does Big River fit into the overall plan?

Yes. Look, I would love to give you what's in my mind. But it's not timely yet because first and foremost, the existing deal needs to be abandoned. Until the deal is abandoned, anything that we try to execute is a speculation. The important thing is what I told Governor Shapiro this morning on the phone. We have an all-American solution. Don't try to squeeze me on the details because I'm not going to give you any details. I'm not talking, I'm talking to Josh. We have now American solution, an American to save United States Steel Corporation. In my mind, the name of the surviving entity will be United States Steel Corporation. Cliffs will be part of United States Steel Corporation, not very different than when Nations Bank acquired Bank of America. So look at that and so iconic. The company buying was Nations Bank, Nations being a lot of Nations. And the company that was being acquired was Bank of America. Nations Bank decided to keep the name Bank of America because they believe that Bank of America is more powerful than Nations Bank. Well, I confess the name United States Steel Corporation must survive because that's the corporation, that's United States Steel Cooperation. And like the headquarter of Nippon Steel, North America, all true employees that we have in Houston will be relocated to Pittsburgh. No. I will relocate to Pittsburgh. And U.S. Steel will finally have a CEO residing in Pittsburgh because the existing one resides in Peoria, Illinois, and the CFO resides in Connecticut. And the General Counsel resides in Florida, Guess what? The CEO, you'll move to Pittsburg. The CFO, where are you going to leave Celso? The COO, Cliff Smith, he's not here. So because he's not here, I will fill in for him. He will move to Pittsburgh. The General Council, James Graham, is going to move to Pittsburgh And the headquarter being pitiful. And by the way, whoever is in the building that name on top of the building, whatever name they have prepared to take it down because I'm going to put U.S. Steel corporation at the top. I hope I answered you.

You did. You did. And while I have the microphone, can I pass it to my compadre [indiscernible].

Sure, please.

Lorenz here. Nice to meet you, and thanks for having us. I worked with Dan on the scrap side at fast markets. after new...

And your accent from Japan?

Yes.

No, you're from the U.K.

[indiscernible] from my sense, but I live in Butler now. So this is calls close to my heart.

It's like me. I live in Cleveland. So that's because that's the reason of my accent. Cleveland.

My fiance is American, my son is American. After Cliffs Momentous purchase [indiscernible] last year, we covered it really puts Cliffs in a unique position with pigeon, scrap control and also potential to control HRC tons coming over the Canadian border. I wondered if the merger gets tabled with Nippon and the proposed plan with Nucor goes ahead, how does that factor into your raw material strategy moving; forward? Because I mean, consolidation is such a key to the industry now. Is that something that you're actively considering as part of this bid to take at least part of what you called out of U.S. Steel?

No. No. If you read the plan, from our original proposal, the plan was to use the facilities that are available to U.S. Steel to supply my own plant. I'll give an example. The coke plant in Cleveland can be expanded to supply Indiana Harbor, Burns Harbor, Middletown, [indiscernible], Cleveland. That's the strategy. That's not about control. It's about real integration strategies. That's why I buy companies and I grow employment because I grow the size of the [indiscernible] with flying colors, in 3 months, 3 months in and out, and they gave us a thorough -- going to have a bottle of water, please. Thank you. We went through our real investigation of the DOJ because of what was ongoing with U.S. Steel and all the things, all the noise in the press and it's going to create a -- it's going to control this, control that. I don't control anything. I don't control my wife. And we're married 38 years. How old are you? 37?. Yes, 38. So -- and I don't control her. How can I control the market? There is Stelco and there is Algoma and there's ArcelorMittal Dofasco, and several other smaller ones. There is no such a thing as controlled. But the more assets you have, the more people pulling together, the more we can do. 1 plus 1 is not 2, it's 3. 3 plus another 1 is 6 you know that's called synergies. There's not about control. It's about doing what's right. I appreciate the questions. Yes, sir. I'll have this 2 here there from local press, and then I'll give it to you the remote. Go ahead.

Paul Gough from the Pittsburgh Business.

How are you doing, Paul?

How are you?

I'm fine and dandy.

Walk me through sort of how you are planning -- you just bought Stelco? Obviously, the difference between what's happened in the steel industry in August 2023 and even December '23, it's a lot more challenging for you for U.S. Steel, even for Nippon Steel. How are you -- and you bought Stelco as well. What's -- how are you going to finance this? Is this -- is it true that you're working with Nucor on this bid?

Well, I know that's a fair question. But first of all, I'm not going to show the strategy on these things here. I'm not going to negotiate through the press with all due respect. The only thing I can tell you is that when I -- spent one [ $1 billion ] in that plant, not profits, revenues, and we did. And we financed that at an average cost of capital of [ 5 to 0 on 4% ] with no support from government. We did on our own. So we know how to do these things. When I bought AK Steel, it was a mining company buying a steel company. So it was like a dog buying a horse. And then when we're a bigger horse, ArcelorMittal USA came to me and said, look, I think we are a better owner of my assets. Would you consider buying us? I said, yes, it's like a big horse by a big lion, but I would try to make it happen. We made it happen. So of course, I have an answer, but of course, I don't want to negotiate through the press. And I know you appreciate that. But the resume works. Go check, everything I told you is true.

One other question. You talked about moving Cleveland-Cliffs to U.S. Steel it a whole company, and what would Hunan Valin works? How would that fit into this?

Novelis works with the U.S. Steel. All the steel business will be rescued.

And would remain intact?

Absolutely 100%. By the way, Hunan Valin needs a lot more than the numbers that they are floating. Of course, you talk with all due respect to the mayors and the local officials, you talk to these folks, you say $2 billion, $1.5 billion -- well, look, Paul, we spend at Cleveland-Cliffs just in [ coal ] every year -- just in [ coal ], just in expense, $2.4 billion, new refractors $1.1 billion. Steel is a high cost proposition. Numbers are abnormal. It's not for people that are unprepared. People that don't understand the size. Experience matters. This industry is for the ones that have a proven track record. That's us. Cleveland-Cliffs is a great company. The mining side would be Cleveland-Cliffs. The steel site will be United States Steel Corporation. The same way, Andrew Carnegie, JPMorgan, Albert, Gary, and the mothers, fathers and son [indiscernible] did in the past. We are just going on with history. And this will happen during the second term of Donald J. Trump. That's the goal. One more here from the room, and then I need to go to the Internet and then back to the room. Okay. Yes, sir.

Evan Robinson Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Why you're against me? You only write stuff that's against me. Nice to meet you. So that's the real Lourenco. Unfiltered.

You've mentioned Andrew Carnegie several points today. Some of the original antitrust laws in the United States were created because of his monopolization of the steel sector. How do you convince the U.S. Steel Board, members of Trump's administration that your purchase of U.S. Steel won't create a monopoly?

If you paid attention to what I said, I have already gone through a thorough review by the DOJ when I acquired [indiscernible]. And they scrutinized us. They came in and they did a thorough investigation, thorough investigation. So I believe, first of all, that the antitrust investigation will be a lot simpler because a lot of the work has already been done. That said, let me correct you in one thing. You said that the antitrust laws were put in place because of Andrew Carnegie, for what Andrew Carnegie did. You know how many days Andrew Carnegie working for United States Steel? Zero. Andrew Carnegie was the guy that own Carnegie Steel. He sold to JPMorgan. JP Morgan and Gary Albert -- Albert Gary. Sorry, Albert Gary, the Chairman and the owner. JPMorgan and the Albert Gary put together Carnegie Steel, consolidated and a few other smaller companies, they consolidate. Andrew Carnegie at the age of 35 years old, he was already giving his money back building libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. So some people forget the reality because they read the paper and its wrong and then another one writes something that's wrong and wrong again. Carnegie gave his money away. Carnegie was the guy that put the Carnegie Hall. He's one of the best benefactors of the United States ever. Okay. What was your questions, now that we know that Carnegie did not do anything wrong?

Just one other question about the rhetoric from this past year. I mean you mentioned in the press conference today that you don't harbor any ill will towards other countries and also describe Japan as evil...

No, no, I did not say that. I said that I don't harbor any evil feelings against the mayors of Western Pennsylvania. Against other countries, I do harbor a lot of bad feelings. I'm a good Catholic. But you know what? Every Sunday, I have to repaint because I have a lot, a lot of hatred about countries that take advantage of the United States, particularly to Japan and China. But what was the question?

Just some of the threats directly towards members of Nippon Steel and Japanese officials. Obviously, speech protected under the first amendment, but just questions and remarks that have come out through the calls with investors where specifically at one point, suggesting that Japanese officials might kill themselves as a result of this transaction? Do you stand by those remarks? What do you have to say in response to those Japanese?

Look, I'm just -- it's my opinion. And there are several ways of Japanese people to convey their repent when they do something bad. And Seppuku happened in the past. Now it's more like bowing down in front of the [ TV ].

[indiscernible] from Reuters. I'm going to open up her line. Alexandra?

Hello, can you hear me?

We can hear you.

So much for doing this briefing. And I'm so sorry, not to be able to be there in person. I've heard the lines been cutting in and out a little bit, and I know a lot of the questions sort of take as a baseline assumption that there is going to be a bid. But I was wondering if you could just state really explicitly does Cleveland-Cliffs plan to make a bid for U.S. Steel with or without Nucor after June 18 if the parties are indeed forced to abandon the transaction?