Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Q1 2023 Earnings Conference Call April 25, 2023 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Celso Goncalves - EVP & CFO
Lourenco Goncalves - Chairman, President & CEO
Conference Call Participants
Emily Chieng - Goldman Sachs Group
Lucas Pipes - B. Riley Securities
Carlos De Alba - Morgan Stanley
Timna Tanners - Wolfe Research
Alexander Hacking - Citigroup
Sean Wondrack - Deutsche Bank
Tristan Gresser - BNP Paribas Exane
Curtis Woodworth - Crédit Suisse
Operator
This is Daryl, and I am your conference facilitator today. I would like to welcome everyone to Cleveland-Cliffs' First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. The company reminds you that certain comments made on today's call will include predictive statements that are intended to be made as forward-looking within the safe harbor protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Although the company believes that its forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Important factors that could cause results to differ materially are set forth in reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and news releases filed with the SEC, which are available on the company's website.
Today's conference call is also being -- is also available and being broadcast at clevelandcliffs.com. At the conclusion of the call, it will be archived on the website and available for replay. The company will also discuss results excluding certain special items. Reconciliation for Regulation G purposes can be found in the earnings release, which was published yesterday.
At this time, I would like to introduce Celso Goncalves, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Celso Goncalves
Thank you, Daryl, and good morning, everyone. Our Q1 results marked the rebound in profitability from the trough in Q4, as we effectively doubled our adjusted EBITDA from the previous quarter. We outperformed on our 3 most important metrics: selling price, unit costs and steel volumes. We guided to a Q1 implied selling price of around $1,120 per ton and realized around $1,130. We indicated that unit costs would decline by $50 per ton and they declined by $60. We said volumes would rise to around 4 million tons, and we delivered 4.1 million. Most importantly, we set the stage for another highly profitable year in 2023, which we expect to further materialize with a much higher Q2 EBITDA and strong free cash flow generation in the last 3 quarters of the year.