Although the company won’t report its full quarterly results until next month, preliminary numbers show that quarterly revenue is up approximately 320% over the same time in the prior year, it said. 

“We ended 2020 on a particularly high note. With the completion of our second transformational acquisition, creating the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America and the start-up of the most modern and environmentally friendly direct reduction plant in the world, Cliffs enters 2021 with the right size, the right product mix, and the right customer mix for the business environment in which we operate,” said chairman and chief executive Lourenco Goncalves. 

“Our fourth-quarter strong results are just a sample of what we should be able to accomplish in 2021, when the contributions of the recent acquisition of ArcelorMittal USA and the sales of hot briquetted iron (HBI) to third-party customers will be fully reflected in the numbers. With the backdrop of a resilient steel pricing environment and the growing number of steel companies competing for an increasingly scarce scrap supply in 2021 and beyond, Cleveland-Cliffs will continue to benefit from our differentiated business model with self-sufficiency in pellets and HBI,” he added.