Hello. Welcome to today's conference call to discuss Algoma Steel's fiscal first quarter 2024 financial results. My name is Doug, and I'll be your operator for today's call. At this time, I'd like to hand the call over to Mike Moraca, Treasurer and Investor Relations Officer for Algoma. Mr. Moraca, please go ahead. Good morning, everyone, welcome to Algoma Steel Group Inc's first quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call, conference call. Leading today's call are Michael Garcia, our Chief Executive Officer, and Rajat Marwah, our Chief Financial Officer. As a reminder, this call is being recorded and will be made available for replay later today in the investors section of Algoma Steel's corporate website at www.algoma.com. I would like to remind you that comments made on today's call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which involve assumptions and inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from statements made today. In addition, our financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS, which differs from U.S. GAAP, and our discussion today includes references to certain non-IFRS financial measures. Last evening, we posted an earnings presentation to accompany today's prepared remarks. The slides for today's call can be found in the Investors section of our corporate website. With that in mind, I would ask everyone on today's call to read the legal disclaimers on slide two of the accompanying earnings presentation, and also refer to the risk, risks and assumptions outlined in Algoma Steel's first quarter fiscal 2024 management's discussion and analysis. Please note that our financial statements are prepared using the U.S. dollar as our functional currency and the Canadian dollar as our presentation currency. Our fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st, and our financial statements have been prepared for the three months ended June 30th, 2023. Please note, all amounts referred to on today's call are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. Following our prepared remarks, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Michael Garcia. Thank you, Mike. Good morning, thank you for joining us to discuss our fiscal first quarter results. As always, I will begin my remarks by addressing what truly matters most to us, the safety and well-being of everyone at Algoma Steel. During our last quarterly call, we updated you on the tragic fatality of a contract worker at Algoma Steel on June 15th. The Ministry of Labour was notified and attended the site to conduct its investigation, which remains ongoing. At Algoma, we believe in safety without compromise, while our continued dedication has led to a significant improvement in our Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate over the past decade, we remain committed to creating a safe, zero-injury workplace. Next, I'll cover the key events and milestones during our fiscal first quarter and subsequent to its end, as well as an update on the progress at our EAF project. I will then turn the call over to Rajat for a deeper dive into the numbers and a discussion of our strong liquidity and balance sheet before closing with an update on market conditions. Our results for fiscal first quarter of 2024 came in modestly ahead of our previously disclosed guidance for both shipments and adjusted EBITDA. Our shipments of 569,000 tons were up 5.9% versus the prior year period. Our results reflect a quarter of solid operational execution, even in the face of commodity price volatility, and we expect that momentum to continue throughout the fiscal year as we work in parallel to advance the investment and activity at our EAF project. On our last call, we provided an update on the progress of phase II of our plate mill modernization project, including the in-line shear installation, which is progressing ahead of schedule. I am pleased to report that the shear installation is now complete and we expect to begin cold commissioning this month, with hot trials expected by the end of this quarter. We plan for higher plate production levels after commissioning. We are very excited about this, given the continued robustness of our current plate market and the high price spread over hot-rolled coil. This higher production level will allow us to capitalize on this market opportunity and to build inventory ahead of the planned phase II hot mill outage to upgrade the hot mill drives, currently scheduled for April of 2024. I'd like to update you on our progress during the quarter on our transformational EAF project. This will ultimately increase our throughput capacity by roughly 1/3, from 2.8 million tons per year of liquid steelmaking capacity today via the blast furnace route, to 3.7 million tons employing dual electric arc furnaces upon completion. The higher liquid steel output is expected to match our expanded downstream finishing capacity as we increase production at our plate mill. Importantly, this will improve overall product mix while simultaneously lowering our carbon emissions by approximately 70% when fully operational. During the quarter, EAF expenditures totaled CAD 74 million, bringing cumulative spend as of June 30th to CAD 341 million, or 40% of our expected total project cost, at the midpoint of our unchanged project budget. The construction of the main steelmaking building is progressing on schedule. We expect to begin receiving key equipment from Danieli this quarter. We continue to make meaningful progress securing the remaining portion of expected project cost as bid packages continue to come in. Our expectations to begin commissioning in late calendar 2024 are also unchanged. Our startup plan continues to include normal production from our existing steelmaking facility, while ramping up steel production from our EAFs in calendar 2025, followed by a complete switch to EAF production. We said on the last call, and I would like to reiterate today, that we expect the completion of the EAF project will be funded through a number of existing capital resources, including cash on hand, cash generated through operations, a drawdown of excess working capital, and the capital resources already available to us, such as the federal SIF loan. Rajat will get into more details there, but given our strong balance sheet, that includes no debt outside of government loans, and with full availability under our ABL credit facility, our operations are well supported throughout this exciting transition. Through the quarter, we demonstrated consistent and reliable operations. There is also no shortage of excitement here on site in Sault Ste. Marie, as we see the EAF progressing rapidly and the future of our company becoming reality. I'd like to once again thank all of our employees, whose execution continues to deliver solid operational and financial results safely while simultaneously driving the EAF project forward. Now, I will pass the call over to Rajat to go over our financial results for the quarter and give more details on the expected funding of our capital expenditures. Thanks, Mike. Good morning, thank you all for joining the call. I'll remind you again that all numbers are expressed in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted. As Mike said, we had a solid quarter to start the fiscal year. Our first quarter results included adjusted EBITDA of CAD 191.2 million, or CAD 336 per ton, which reflected an adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.1%. Cash generated from operating activity was CAD 163.9 million. We finished the quarter with CAD 300.6 million of unrestricted cash, and our $300 million revolving credit facility remains undrawn, representing total liquidity in excess of CAD 600 million. As a reminder, the only remaining long-term debt on our balance sheet is in the form of government loans linked to our capital projects. Those loans have highly attractive terms that include the potential for partial forgiveness of principal as we reach certain carbon emission reduction targets with the shift to EAF steelmaking in the coming years. I will now dive into the key drivers of our performance in the quarter. We shipped 569,000 tons in the quarter, up 5.9% as compared to the prior year period. Our plate and strip production continues to run well, and despite normal seasonal maintenance in the second half of the year, including our annual vessel reline, we expect our shipment in each of the next two quarters to be roughly in line with our typical run rate achieved over the last several quarters. Net sales realizations averaged CAD 1,323 per ton, down 18.9% versus the prior year period. The decrease versus the prior year level primarily reflects overall softer market conditions. Plate pricing continued to enjoy a significant premium relative to hot-rolled coil during the quarter, driven by resilient demand, particularly from spending on infrastructure projects and durable goods. As a reminder, we are the only discrete plate mill in Canada, and we look forward to the incremental additional tons from the plate mill in the second half of calendar 2023 as a result of the new shear installation Mike talked about. Steel revenue in the quarter totaled CAD 754.5 million, down 14% versus the same quarter of last year, reflecting the lower average realizations per ton of steel that more than offset the increase in shipments. On the cost side, Algoma's cost per ton of steel products sold averaged CAD 950 in the quarter, up 3.3% versus the prior year period. The main drivers of the modest increase versus the prior year period include the cost of replacing internally produced coke with purchased coke and higher cost of other key inputs, which more than offset the positive impact of the increase in volumes. Cash flow from operations totaled CAD 163.9 million for the quarter, compared to CAD 276.6 million in the prior year period, up by CAD 68.5 million sequentially. Our inventories at quarter end was CAD 759.3 million, up only 5.1% during the quarter, which would otherwise have been a large increase due to normal seasonal build patterns of, of what is typically our lowest level in March. We expect to continue releasing inventories throughout the year as quantities normalize with consistent production. Now, I would like to provide additional color on our funding plans for the EAF project. As previously noted, our outlook for total cost of the project remains in a range of CAD 825 million-CAD 875 million. Through the end of the quarter, we had spent CAD 341 million, leaving approximately CAD 510 million of investments remaining to reach the midpoint of our project budget.... We are well positioned today when you look at our expected resources for those expenditure over the next 12 - 18 months. We have cash on hand of roughly CAD 300 million, another CAD 135 million of available capacity on our SIF loan, and approximately CAD 150 million of cash to be generated from drawing down excess working capital. Combined, this exceeds the expected capital requirement to complete the project and does not include any borrowing on our ABL or any contribution from operating cash flow, highlighting the strong position we are in as we advance this transformative project. I would now like to turn the call back to Mike Garcia for closing comments. Thank you, Rajat. Looking at the state of the North American steel market, pricing levels in the fiscal first quarter saw periods of volatility, with index pricing for U.S. Midwest hot-rolled coil ranging from approximately CAD 850 -CAD 1,200 per ton. Subsequent to the quarter end, prices have continued to decline to current levels in the low CAD 800s. Plate pricing continues to demonstrate a significant premium as overall demand for plate products remains high, which in turn continues to benefit our average price realizations. While the steel business involves inherent volatility, we address that volatility by serving a diverse customer base that provides selling opportunities across Canada and the U.S. We traditionally service roughly 150 customers in a calendar year and target a high percentage of contract sales. Those contracted volume commitments continue to provide stability to our order book and operations, and the lagging price mechanics help to smooth some of the volatility experienced when prices shift up or down quickly. While the forward curve shows some expectation of stability at prices modestly lower than current spot, we've seen time again how quickly things can change. Regardless of the swings in our end markets, we will relentlessly maintain our primary focus of delivering prudent financial discipline and operational excellence. This will ensure our ability to execute our EAF project, ushering in the next phase of our company that defines the future of Algoma, provides the foundation for long-term value creation for our stakeholders, and solidifies our leadership position at the forefront of green steel production in North America. Thank you very much for your continued interest in Algoma Steel. We are off to a solid start of our fiscal year and look forward to the rest of what promises to be a transformational year. At this point, we would be happy to take your questions. Operator, please give the instructions for the Q&A session. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we will be conducting a question-and-answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, you may press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star key. Our first question comes from the line of Katja Jancic with BMO Capital Markets. Please proceed with your question. Hi, thank you for taking my question. Maybe just as a clarification, did you say that volumes or shipments are expected to be similar in the next few quarters to the first quarter? Yeah. It's, it will be similar, not exactly to the first quarter, but, if you look at the last, several quarters, it'll be an average of that. Similar, but not same. What about with plate, expected to increase? Is that still the expectation, plate volume? Yeah, Katya, this is, this is Mike. The, the, the shear is, is in, and we are currently conducting cold commissioning, followed by hot commissioning. By the end of this calendar year, we should start to see a 10%-15% increase in plate volume. Now, that's assuming we've done the work on the commercial side, and we have the orders, some of that will be reflected in plate shipments. Some of it will be used to build inventory ahead of the outage next April. The total increase will be in the 10%-15% by November, December timeframe. Is this a bit of delay? I thought that was expected by third quarter calendar year. No, I think it's consistent with, with what we spoke about, in our last call, Rajat? Yeah, it was, it was third fiscal quarter, what we mentioned. Okay. Then maybe just on the cost side, how should we think about cost in the next few quarters? Cost will be pretty similar to what we are seeing right now. There should be some, some reductions coming as we, as we keep increasing our production on the coke batteries, our internal coke and start replacing it with the purchased coke, but that probably will come towards the end of the fiscal year. For the next, let's say, one or two quarters, our cost should be pretty similar. Okay. Thank you so much. Thanks. Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of David Ocampo with Cormark Securities. Please proceed with your question. Thanks. I, I just wanted to follow up on the last line of questions regarding costs. I think I seem to remember that a portion of it is, is tied to HRC prices or, or some sort of index tied to steel, as well as the IODEX for, for iron ore. I, I, I just would have thought that with, with steel prices coming down, at least in the next quarter or maybe next two quarters, that, that your, your input costs would also follow that. Maybe you could help reframe how, how we should be thinking about costs in the following steel price environment. Sure. You're, you're right. There is a portion of our contract that is linked to pricing, and it, it has certain bands. Within, within a price range, it, it moves, and then, then it stops. The other portion is, is based on IODEX. With this, with the price drop in IODEX remaining same or increasing, it, it more or less offsets each other for the, for the quarter, or for the, for the coming, for the coming period. That's how iron ore will play. Scrap definitely will help because scrap is coming down, and we expect other commodities, commodity price, if they come down, if price remains at lower level in the following quarters, we should see some reduction coming, some slight reduction coming. You know, it totally depends on how the commodities plays out in the next couple of quarters. It should, it should change slightly, but that's why I said it's very similar, our cost quarter-over-quarter, and for the next one or two quarters, and then we will see some reductions coming, just because of coke as well as as well as coal negotiations that will happen, and it'll start impacting in the next year. Does that give you some color? Yeah, that, that, that's helpful there. I guess if I, I think about your break-even cost structure, just given that, that framework that you, you laid out there, are, are you guys now closer to CAD 700 a ton of break even on sheet prices? Yeah, it should be in that, you're, you're closer to that vicinity, maybe slightly lower. That's where, that's where it is, as we see the cost now. Got it. Okay. The last one for me, one of your, your competitors here in Canada called out some customers deferring shipments, just given the uncertainty that they're seeing in the marketplace, whether that's related to auto or not. You guys do have a 30% exposure to automotive. Are, are you guys starting to, to see more of that from your customers, where, where there may be some pushback on, on taking delivery? Hi, David. Not really. We, we don't have any, any large, customer sector where we're, where we're experiencing that. Okay. That's, that's it for me. I'll hop back in the queue. Our next question comes from the line of Ahmad Shaath with Beacon Securities. Please proceed with your question. Hi, guys. Most of my questions have been answered, but maybe back on the cost structure. Is it fair to say that we should expect maybe some downward pressure on unit margins, per ton, but not a lot, given the comments you got up heard from both the cost and the pricing side? Yeah, the... There will be downward pressure, specifically from the pricing side. As you've seen, that the price has dropped from peak to low, by CAD 400, and the market is at CAD 800, but frankly, it's CRU is at CAD 800, but the market is lower. There's definitely pressure from margins coming from the pricing side, which will impact the quarter. Now, our, our plate book is good, and the plate pricing is good, which offsets it, as well as, as well as the contract position that we have, helps us to maintain a decent margin for this quarter. It's, it's, you know, from forward perspective, it depends on how the pricing, how the pricing shapes up. Got it. That's very helpful. Maybe, back on, on your commentary on, on the volume side. If I look at the last several quarters, the range is pretty wide, is, is pretty wide. I mean, we're looking at from 430 to 570 tons, we look at, at, at the range of last several quarters. Are you be able to give us maybe a little more color on unexpected volume? Is it just the last two quarters? Because if I go back to Q2, Q1, last fiscal year, the volumes were, obviously, there was operational issues, but the volume were down. Yeah, Ahmad, I think it's a good point. Just take the outliers quarters. There were two quarters, which were, which are outliers, so take them out, and then you average out, you should come to a good number. Fair enough. That's, that's great color. I appreciate it, guys. I'll jump back in the queue. Okay. As a reminder, it is star one to ask a question. Our next question comes from the line of Lucas Pipes with B. Riley. Please proceed with your question. Thank you very much, operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. My, my first question is, Rajat, I, I, I think you made some important comments regarding cash flow in the second half of the year in your prepared remarks, and I just wanted to make sure I, I, I fully understood that those, those. If you could maybe g- go back and just, just highlight your cash flow expectations for the second half of the year, I would, I would really appreciate it. Thank you. ... Sure. I did not specifically provide any guidance on the cash flow for the second half, but what I, what I did say was that, based on the cash that we have, and I was talking about electric arc furnace funding. Based on the cash that we have on hand, the SIF loan that is yet to be received in cash of CAD 135 million, and also the important factor, which is drawdown of our inventories, there is roughly CAD 150 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. That's, that's what I commented on, which gives us, gives us enough liquidity to manage the EAF project. That is very helpful, and congratulations on, on that. Thanks. My, my, my, my second question is, is regarding coal procurement, and, and it's a two-pronged question. The first is, how do you think about coal procurement, in light of your EAF transition over the next few years? Secondly, some of your North American peers have noted expectations for significantly lower coal prices in 2024. I, I wondered if you could comment on that. Thank you very much. Sure. I'll, I'll start with the second question. The expectation is, 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, you know, 10%-20% year-over-year from index perspective. We are, we are expecting that, you know, the coal price should come down. Our negotiations will sha- will start soon, and then, 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, you know, we, we do the commissioning end of next year and then have a ramp up, over a, over a 12-odd-month period, during which we will, we will continue, making steel through both the routes. Based on, based on availability of power and, you know, 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. The coal contracts are normally annual, so we will be, we will be renewing them carefully, as we go along. Our first intention is that we want to exclude the purchased coke that we do right now and, and be self-sufficient on our coke production during the interim period, and then start ramping it down. That is very helpful. I really appreciate the color. I'll, I'll try to squeeze one last one in. On the end markets, can you maybe run, run down where you're seeing strength, persistent strength? Where you're seeing more, more pockets of weakness? Would really appreciate your, your perspective on the demand side. Thank you very much. Sure. I think, before I go into any specific markets, you know, on demand, we're, we're roughly four weeks out in our order book on, on sheet, a little longer, five to six weeks, in plate. Year to date, the auto build rates have, have been tracking as expected and are positive. Obviously, there's a lot of, potential uncertainty with, with the OEM, contract negotiations that are taking place, and a September 14th, expiration date of the current contract. It's probably a little bit too involved to, to try to predict the, all of the knock-on effects on, on our order book from a potential labor disruption, but, but obviously, a lot of steel is going into automotive. If you have a, an industry slowdown, that's, that's gonna have some, effects. On the distribution side of our business, we see the majority of our customers continue to buy mostly when they have, you know, back-to-back needs of sales. They're looking and they continue to manage their inventories closely. They've been doing that, and that's the behavior we've seen for a while now. The coil market, although, you know, we continue to fill our coil order book, you can probably tell from the way that coil pricing has moved over the last several weeks, that we still see a little slowness there, although our order book is still full, but that's mostly driven by distribution. Our markets around infrastructure build, where we send a lot of plate, continue to be pretty, pretty firm, and we see that in our, in our plate demand, in our plate order book, and obviously in the plate pricing. That's kind of the, some of the, the landscape that we're seeing, on the on the commercial side, Lucas. Michael, really appreciate the color. To you and the team, continued best of luck. Thank you. Thank you. There are no further questions in the queue. I'd like to hand the call back to management for closing remarks. Thank you again for your participation in our first quarter fiscal 2024 earnings conference call, and your continued interest in Algoma Steel. We certainly look forward to updating you on our results and progress when we report our fiscal second quarter results, scheduled for November. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, this does conclude today's teleconference. Thank you for your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.