Algoma Steel Provides Fiscal Fourth Quarter 2024 Guidance

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Algoma Steel Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTL; TSX: ASTL) (“Algoma” or “the Company”), a leading Canadian producer of hot and cold rolled steel sheet and plate products, today provided guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter ending March 31, 2024. Unless otherwise specified, all amounts are in Canadian dollars.

Fiscal 2024 fourth quarter total steel shipments are expected to be in the range of 445,000 to 460,000 tons and Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $30 million to $40 million. As previously announced, during the quarter Algoma experienced an unplanned outage at its blast furnace in connection with a utility corridor collapse at its coke-making facility. It is expected that the resultant outage reduced production by 120,000 to 150,000 net tons, significantly impacting Adjusted EBITDA performance in the quarter.

Michael Garcia, Algoma’s Chief Executive Officer commented, “We expect to close out our fiscal year on a high note, with steel production back to normal levels and our end markets looking strong. This is thanks to the efforts of our entire team, who quickly recovered our blast furnace facilities from the January 20th incident at our coke-making utility corridor, allowing us to capture attractive pricing in our order book that partially offset the effect of impacted shipments in the fiscal fourth quarter.”

“Demand for our products remains strong, and market prices for Hot Rolled Coil have been on the rise. With a return to full production, we expect an improvement in our fiscal first-quarter results. Importantly, our Electric Arc Furnace (“EAF”) project remains on schedule and within budget, with commissioning activities expected to start by the end of 2024. We have continued to secure contracts to advance the EAF project, which now totals approximately $788 million, most of which are on fixed-price terms, reducing budget risks. While we are happy with the progress made so far and the project being on time and on budget, the management team remains laser-focused on de-risking project execution and beginning to realize the significant benefits of this transformative project, marking the start of a new era of steelmaking at Algoma," Garcia concluded.