The company reported adjusted EBITDA for the full year of US$5.3 billion, compared to US$353 million in 2020. Its fourth-quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA was US$1.5 billion, compared to US$286 million in the same period in 2020.
 
Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president and chief executive of Cleveland-Cliffs, said, “The results we achieved in 2021 are a clear demonstration of how powerful Cleveland-Cliffs has become, as our revenues grew more than ten times, from US$2 billion in 2019 to over US$20 billion in 2021.”
 
Goncalves added that through the company’s utilization of both hot briquetted iron in its blast furnaces and prime scrap in its basic oxygen furnaces, it is able to “stretch hot metal, reduce coke rate, and reduce CO₂ emissions to a new international benchmark level for steel companies with product mix similar to ours.”
 
Goncalves said he expects 2022 to be another “phenomenal year” of profitability for the company due to rebounding demand, particularly in the automotive sector.
 
Cliffs also announced that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program for the company to buy back outstanding common shares. Under the program, the company will have “ample flexibility to buy up to a maximum of US$1 billion worth of shares, via acquisitions in the open market or privately negotiated transactions,” according to an official press release.