Algoma Steel Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTL) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Ian Gillies: Okay. That’s helpful. Switching gears to the pricing side. Obviously, there is been two increases by one of your competitors in the last, call it, 11 or 12 days. Are you able to provide any initial feedback from how your customers are feeling about these price increases and how you’re thinking about that in the context of current market conditions?

Michael Garcia: Sure. I mean, I think difficult for me to speak for the entire market, but I think the price increases have been received relatively well by the market with an understanding that the price is moving up. And I think as we go forward into the remainder of this quarter and into the first quarter of the new fiscal year, we will start to see that displayed in our own order book and results. We €“ our lead times are going out a little bit. So there is a matter of weeks before a price increase that hits the market kind of today is reflected in our bookings. Even if it’s a new price today, and we book it at that new price today, it’s still 6, 7, sometimes 8 weeks, but more 6 or 7 weeks before that product is produced and shipped and realized as revenue for us. Does that help?

Ian Gillies: No, no, that’s very helpful. I appreciate that. With €“ and then on the cost side, I have two separate questions. The first one, you made some commentary in and around coking coal this quarter and buying from a third party. Just to clarify, is there anything unusual expected to happen in the fiscal fourth quarter relative to, say, last year on the coking coal side? Or was that more of just a general comment that you’re working on getting that cost lower over the course of time?

Rajat Marwah: So coking coal, there is no change from pricing perspective between last quarter, this quarter and going forward. I think we indicated that the pricing year-over-year is very similar. On the coking coal coke production, metallurgical coke production, the change will start coming from end of the first fiscal quarter where we will start getting more of internal coke produced, which will definitely help us on the cost side. We don’t €“ we are not expecting a significant change quarter-over-quarter on the cost side. We are expecting it to improve as we get into the second fiscal quarter of next year.

Ian Gillies: Okay. Understood. And then, Rajat, the last one for me. There was, I think, a $19 million inventory impairment in the quarter. Are you expecting €“ should we expect to see much more of those sorts of items? Or do you think you’ve largely worked through that piece?

Rajat Marwah: I think it’s worked through. The pricing from a realization perspective was pretty low at $600. And now when we are hovering around $900, $850 to $900, it’s not there. So at $600-odd or $700, those would be €“ those were the adjustments that came through. And that reflected lower production and the cost challenges that we faced in the first €“ in the last two quarters. So most of it is taken care of that is we don’t €“ we should not expect if the market conditions continue where they are with our production levels, we don’t expect that to happen.

Ian Gillies: Thank you very much. That’s helpful. I appreciate for taking all my questions. I will turn it back over.

Rajat Marwah: Thanks, Ian.

Michael Garcia: Thanks, Ian.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of David Gagliano with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question.

David Gagliano: Hi. Great. Thanks for taking my questions. I just wanted to drill down a bit on the near-term outlook if possible. We’ve had a few of the U.S. steel producers report and guide pricing down quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter, mainly because of the lags versus the price increases. Is that a reasonable assumption? And can you frame the magnitude of the decline in pricing expected on a per ton basis in the first quarter?