Algoma Steel Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTL) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Rajat Marwah: Sure. So I did not specifically provide any guidance on the cash flow for the second half, but what I did say was that based on the cash that we have and I was talking about electric arc furnace funding, so based on the cash that we have on hand, the SIF loan that is yet to be received in cash of CAD135 million and also the important factor, which is a drawdown of our inventories, that is roughly CAD150 million of drawdown that we are expecting over the next several quarters, that will be enough to manage the spending – the remaining spending on the EAF project without even considering the operational cash flow that we will generate during that period. So that’s what I commented on, which gives us enough liquidity to manage the EAF project.

Lucas Pipes: That is very helpful and congratulations on that.

Rajat Marwah: Thanks, Lucas.

Lucas Pipes: My second question is regarding coal procurement and it’s a two-pronged question. The first is, how do you think about coal procurement in light of new EAF transition over the next few years? And then secondly, some of your North American peers have noted expectations for significantly lower coal prices in 2024, so I wondered if you could comment on that? Thank you very much.

Rajat Marwah: Sure. So I’ll start with the second question. So the expectation is the same that the coal pricing should drop for next year. When you look at what’s happening in the market we’ve seen a drop of 10% to 20% year-over-year from index perspective and we are expecting that the coal price should come down. Our negotiations will start soon and then we’ll finalize for the following year. As far as the buy is concerned and the period of the buy, we’ve laid out a transition plan where we do the commissioning end of next year and then have a ramp up over a 12-month period, during which we will continue making steels for both the routes and then we – based on the availability of power and stability of our furnaces and availability of prime scrap, we will be running our blast furnace, which means coke battery as well for a little longer while we are transitioning through and then ramping it down.

So we will be running our batteries and the blast furnace for next couple of years and the coal contracts are normally annual. So we will be renewing them carefully as we go along, but our first intention is that we want to exclude the purchased coke that we do right now and be self-sufficient on our coke production during the interim period and then start ramping it down.

Lucas Pipes: That’s very helpful. I really appreciate the color. I’ll try to squeeze one last one in. On the end markets can you maybe run down where you’re seeing strength – persistent strength, where you’re seeing more pockets of weakness, would really appreciate your perspective on the demand side? Thank you very much.

Michael Garcia: Sure. I think before I go into any specific markets, on demand, we’re roughly four weeks out in our order book on sheet a little longer five to six weeks in plate. Year-to-date the auto build rates have – been tracking as expected and our positive. Obviously, there is a lot of potential uncertainty with the OEM contract negotiations that are taking place and a September 14 expiration date of the current contract, it’s probably a little bit too involved to try to predict the all of the knock-on effects on our order book from a potential labor disruption, but obviously a lot of steel is going into automotive. So if you have an industry slowdown, that’s going to have some effects. On the distribution side of our business, we see the majority of our customers continue to buy, mostly when they have back-to-back needs of sales.