Slides
Page 1
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved. CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Earnings Presentation February 9, 2026
Page 2
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.2 This presentation contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. As a general matter, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated trends and expectations rather than historical matters. Forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business environment that are difficult to predict and may be beyond our control. Such uncertainties and factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this report, and we undertake no ongoing obligation, other than that imposed by law, to update these statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Uncertainties and risk factors that could affect our future performance and cause results to differ from the forward-looking statements in this presentation include, but are not limited to: continued volatility of steel, scrap metal and iron ore market prices, which directly and indirectly impact the prices of the products that we sell to our customers; uncertainties associated with the highly competitive and cyclical steel industry and our reliance on the demand for steel from the automotive industry; potential weaknesses and uncertainties in global economic conditions, excess global steelmaking capacity and production, prevalence of steel imports and reduced market demand; severe financial hardship, bankruptcy, temporary or permanent shutdowns or operational challenges of one or more of our major customers, key suppliers or contractors, which, among other adverse effects, could disrupt our operations or lead to reduced demand for our products, increased difficulty collecting receivables, and customers and/or suppliers asserting force majeure or other reasons for not performing their contractual obligations to us; risks related to U.S. and Canadian government actions and other countries' reactions with respect to Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as amended by the Trade Act of 1974), the United States-Mexico- Canada Agreement and/or other trade agreements, tariffs, treaties or policies, as well as the uncertainty of obtaining and maintaining effective antidumping and countervailing duty orders to counteract the harmful effects of unfairly traded imports; impacts of extensive governmental regulation, including actual and potential environmental regulations relating to climate change and carbon emissions, and related costs and liabilities, including failure to receive or maintain required operating and environmental permits, approvals, modifications or other authorizations of, or from, any governmental or regulatory authority and costs related to implementing improvements to ensure compliance with regulatory changes, including potential financial assurance requirements, and reclamation and remediation obligations; potential impacts to the environment or exposure to hazardous substances resulting from our operations; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity, our level of indebtedness and the availability of capital could limit our financial flexibility and cash flow necessary to fund working capital, planned capital expenditures, acquisitions, and other general corporate purposes or ongoing needs of our business, or to repurchase our common shares; our ability to reduce our indebtedness or return capital to shareholders within the currently expected timeframes or at all; adverse changes in credit ratings, interest rates, foreign currency rates and tax laws; risks and uncertainties related to our ability to realize the anticipated synergies or other expected benefits of any acquisitions, including the acquisition of Stelco, any potential transaction arising out of our Memorandum of Understanding with POSCO and completing any proposed asset divestiture transactions; challenges to successfully implementing our business strategy to achieve operating results in line with our guidance; the outcome of, and costs incurred in connection with, lawsuits, claims, arbitrations or governmental proceedings relating to commercial and business disputes, antitrust claims, environmental matters, government investigations, occupational or personal injury claims, property-related matters, labor and employment matters, mineral royalty disputes, or suits involving legacy operations and other matters; supply chain disruptions or changes in the cost, quality or availability of energy sources, including electricity, natural gas and diesel fuel, water, critical raw materials and supplies, including iron ore, industrial gases, graphite electrodes, scrap metal, chrome, zinc, other alloys, coke and metallurgical coal, and critical manufacturing equipment and spare parts; problems or disruptions associated with transporting products to our customers, moving manufacturing inputs or products internally among our facilities, or suppliers transporting raw materials and spare parts to us; our ability to implement strategic or sustaining capital projects on time and on budget; uncertainties associated with natural or human-caused disasters, adverse weather conditions, unanticipated geological conditions, critical equipment failures, infectious disease outbreaks, tailings dam failures and other unexpected events; cybersecurity incidents relating to, disruptions in, or failures of, information technology systems that are managed by us or third parties that host or have access to our data or systems, including the loss, theft or corruption of our or third parties' sensitive or essential business or personal information and the inability to access or control systems, as well as emerging risks related to the adoption and regulation of artificial intelligence; liabilities and costs arising in connection with business decisions to temporarily or indefinitely idle or permanently close an operating facility or mine, which could adversely impact the carrying value of associated assets and give rise to impairment charges or closure and reclamation obligations, as well as uncertainties associated with resuming production at any previously idled operating facility or mine; our level of self-insurance and our ability to obtain sufficient third-party insurance to adequately cover potential adverse events and business risks; uncertainties associated with our ability to meet customers’ and suppliers’ decarbonization goals and reduce our emissions in alignment with our own announced targets; challenges to maintaining our social license to operate with our stakeholders, including the impacts of our operations on local communities, reputational impacts of operating in a carbon- intensive industry that produces greenhouse gas emissions, and our ability to foster a consistent operational and safety track record; our actual economic mineral reserves or reductions in current mineral reserve estimates, and any title defect or loss of any lease, license, option, easement or other possessory interest for any mining property; our ability to complete technical and economic studies to determine the potential for economic extraction of rare earth minerals at our mining properties, and the risk that rare-earth extraction at our properties may not be economically viable; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations with unions and our employees; unanticipated or higher costs associated with pension and other postretirement benefits obligations resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or contribution increases required for unfunded obligations, including for multiemployer plan withdrawal liability; uncertain availability or cost of skilled workers to fill critical operational positions and potential labor shortages caused by experienced employee attrition or otherwise, as well as our ability to attract, hire, develop and retain key personnel; and potential significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. For additional factors affecting the business of Cliffs, refer to Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Page 3
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.3 Revenues $18.6 Billion Steel Shipments 16.2 Million (net tons) 2025 HIGHLIGHTS © 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.3 Total Recordable Incident Rate 0.8 Liquidity $3.3 Billion Signed multi-year fixed price contracts with multiple automotive customers Unit cost reductions for third year in a row Optimized operational footprint Record safety year with Total Recordable Incident Rate of 0.8 Formed strategic partnership with POSCO Onerous slab contract expired
Page 4
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.4 Onerous slab contract expired and started shifting historical slab sales to higher margin business Cliffs’ Q4 2025 Results and Highlights Q4 2025 OVERVIEW Q4 2025 expected to be trough in quarterly profitability Closed sale of FPT Florida assets for ~$60 million total value Revenues $4.3 Billion Adj. EBITDA1 Loss $21 Million Steel Shipments 3.8 Million (net tons) Successfully replaced aluminum with steel for automotive applications on pre-existing aluminum forming equipment Drop in average selling price ($39/t) due to index pricing and lags 1Reconciliation for Adjusted EBITDA can be found on last page of presentation and earnings release published February 9, 2026
Page 5
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.5 IMPROVED 2026 OUTLOOK Recession like conditions in manufacturing Weak automotive volumes Market share gains in automotive Improving market conditions 2025 2026 Lagged effect of tariff implementation Full-year of 50% steel tariffs Higher coal pricing Lower coal pricing Weak trade enforcement in Canadian steel industry Tariff-rate quota system in place for steel Loss-making slab contract No onerous slab contract Loss-making operations running at beginning of 2025 Full-year benefit of asset optimization
Page 6
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.6 TRANSFORMATIVE MOU SIGNED WITH POSCO Goals Signed Memorandum of Understanding on September 17, 2025 with POSCO, Korea’s largest and a top ten global steelmaker POSCO seeking to support and grow their established customer base in the desirable U.S. market Partnership Expected to be highly accretive to Cliffs shareholders Enables smooth onboarding for downstream industrial clients moving production from South Korea to the United States Impact Aligned with U.S. policy goals to strengthen domestic industry and attract foreign investment Reflects rising interest in Cliffs amid the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing UBS is acting as financial advisor to Cleveland-Cliffs for the transaction
Page 7
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.7 ASSET SALES PROCESS Under contract, closed, or agreements in principle for 8 non- EBITDA contributing assets Highlights Assets that are well-positioned geographically with infrastructure in place and access to power and water Accomplishments to date Total Value ~$425 million (~$60 million received) 100% of net cash proceeds of any sale is expected to be used to pay down debt 1GW+ of Powered Land Currently Idled
Page 8
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.8 Note: Based on Full-Year 2025 Steelmaking Results – Product Mix includes steel products shipments Highlights 28% Coated 15% Cold-Rolled 3% Stainless & Electrical 5% Plate 9% Slabs Product Mix (Shipments) End Market Mix (Revenue) 28% Direct Automotive 29% Distributors & Converters 30% Infrastructure & Manufacturing 13% Steel Producers © 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.8 40% Hot-Rolled 2025 END MARKET AND PRODUCT OVERVIEW (primarily galvanized) Capturing automotive market share from imports and locking in growing volume with automotive OEMs Higher shipments of hot-rolled due to full-year contribution of Stelco Expiration of third-party slab contract will shift mix to higher-margin business for 2026 Asset optimization continues to drive successful cost performance
Page 9
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.9 RELIABILITY OF AUTOMOTIVE STEEL SUPPLY CHAIN Steel Advantages Over Aluminum More environmentally friendly – Aluminum CO2 emissions intensity is ~4x more than Cleveland-Cliffs steel Less costly – Steel is generally less expensive than aluminum, making it a more cost-effective option Stronger – Steel is inherently stronger than aluminum, allowing it to withstand higher impacts, making it more suitable for passenger safety Easier to repair – Steel can be repaired while aluminum components generally require replacement Sustainable formability – Aluminum loses its formability at a significantly faster rate than steel Breakthrough replacement of aluminum with steel in automotive stamping equipment Cliffs’ steel can effectively replace aluminum in critical automotive applications without the need for costly retooling Moved from trial phase to routine production and delivery of regular orders Successfully Completed Steel Production Trial
Page 10
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.10 TRADE AND TARIFFS Canada 6,557 Exempt 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Brazil 4,498 Quota 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Mexico 3,517 Exempt 25% Tariff 50% Tariff South Korea 2,809 Quota 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Vietnam 1,363 25% Tariff 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Japan 1,180 Quota 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Germany 1,074 Quota 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Taiwan 1,011 25% Tariff 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Netherlands 614 Quota 25% Tariff 50% Tariff China 508 25% Tariff 25% Tariff 50% Tariff Trump Administration’s Continued Focus on Strengthening Domestic Steel Jan. 20, 2025 Status Top 10 Importing Countries 2024 Imports (Thousand Net Tons) Current Mar. 12, 2025 Status Source: AISI
Page 11
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.11 2024 Avg. 755K 819 671 857 865 865 717 750755 711724 619 712 770 564 620 437 554 453 504 398 341 413 Jan-24 Feb-24 Mar-24 Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24 Aug-24 Sep-24 Oct-24 Nov-24 Dec-24 Jan-25 Feb-25 Mar-25 Apr-25 May-25 Jun-25 Jul-25 Aug-25 Sep-25 Oct-25 EFFECTIVENESS OF TARIFFS FOR STEEL Total Flat-Rolled Imports (HRC, CRC, Coated) Thousand Net Tons Source: USITC, AISI Section 232 tariffs reinstated Imports as a Percent of Finished Steel Market Share 25% 22% 21% 20% 20% 19% 18% 16% 14% 15% 14% 15%
Page 12
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.12 EFFECTIVENESS OF TARIFFS FOR AUTO Source: USITC. Wards Auto U.S. Light Vehicle Sales Originating Outside of USMCA Region (Percent of Daily Sales Rate) 24% 23%23% 22%22% 23% 20% 21% 22% 20% Mar-25 Apr-25 May-25 Jun-25 Jul-25 Aug-25 Sep-25 Oct-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 25% Auto tariffs announced Thousand Units Total U.S. Light Vehicle Imports ~7.1 ~6.1 October 2024 YTD October 2025 YTD Down ~14% YTD Million Light Vehicles
Page 13
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.13 $400 $500 $600 $700 $800 $900 $1,000 ONEROUS THIRD-PARTY STEEL SLAB CONTRACT Slab Contract Expired December 9, 2025 Contract expired December 9, 2025 Represented ~1.5 million net tons annually Directly linked to Brazilian slab export price, which was negatively impacted by tariffs in 2025 Brazilian slab price fell while U.S. HRC rose – typically these are correlated Already shifting sales to products with higher profit margins HRC vs. Slab (price per net ton) HRC ~$935 Slab ~$440 Source: Fastmarkets as of 12/31/25
Page 14
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.14 STEEL TARIFFS SUPPORT U.S. HRC PRICE Importance of Steel Tariffs The United States steel industry has long been undermined by excessive imports Tariffs play a crucial role in protecting the U.S. economy, national security and industrial base from violators of free trade Steel tariffs support demand for domestically produced steel Foreign steel producers often take advantage of government subsidies, cheap labor, currency manipulation and weak environmental regulations Higher HRC price provides significant opportunity to generate free cash flow and reinvest in facilities Ensures ability to have thriving steel industry that supports domestic jobs Marginal Import Ton Sets the Price of Steel in U.S. $500 $250 $150 $900 ~$970 Export HRC Cost Section 232 50% Tariff Shipping, Port Fees, Insurance, Etc. Total Landed Cost in U.S. Current HRC Price Source: CLF Estimates, Fastmarkets Per Net Ton
Page 15
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.15 WELL-POSITIONED BALANCE SHEET Leverage Target (Net debt / TTM Adj. EBITDA) 2.5x Capital Allocation Priorities Commitment to utilize 100% of cash flow towards debt repayment Liquidity (As of December 31, 2025) $3.3 billion 3-Year Note Maturities 2026 2027 2028 Zero note maturities from 2026-2028 following October redemptions Debt reduction is #1 priority Maintain ample liquidity above $2.0 billion Continue to extend debt maturities and keep a manageable stack Keep flexible capital structure to navigate all economic environments
Page 16
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.16 Total Capital Expenditures CAPEX DISCIPLINE $893 $1,093 $791 $800 $561 $700 2021 Pro Forma 2022 Pro Forma 2023 Pro Forma 2024 Pro Forma 2025 2026E $ in millions Note: All years inclusive of Stelco
Page 17
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.17 RECORD SAFETY YEAR 2025 Safety Metrics 0.8 Total Recordable Incident Rate 71M+ Employee and Contractor Hours Worked 50% Reduction in Serious Injury or Fatality Exposures since 2023 1.4 1.5 1.2 0.9 0.8 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Historical Total Recordable Incident Rate (Including employees and contractors) Per 200,000 hours worked Continued Progress of Implementation of CLF Safety Culture Continued implementation of Cliffs’ safety culture throughout footprint 43% reduction in TRIR since 2021
Page 18
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.18 $4,207 $2,872 $813 $586 $416 $299 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 PENSION AND OPEB LIABILITY REDUCTION $3.9 billion reduction in pension/OPEB net liabilities since AM USA acquisition Net Liabilities in $ Millions Historical Net Pension and OPEB Liabilities 93% Reduction
Page 19
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.19 SIGNIFICANT COST REDUCTIONS Steel Unit Costs Down ~$150 Per Ton In Three Years and Further Cost Reductions Expected in 2026 2025 Unit Cost Per Ton of Steel HighlightsCost Savings 2024 Unit Cost Per Ton of Steel 2023 Unit Cost Per Ton of Steel Optimization of integrated footprint and reduction of fixed costs Reduced overhead and improved efficiencies Idling of high-cost, loss-making assets Expect to further benefit from Stelco’s low-cost structure and asset optimization 2026 Estimated Reduction ~$80/t Decrease ~$30/t Decrease ~$40/t Decrease ~$10/t Decrease
Page 20
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.20 2026 OUTLOOK Increased Domestic Steel Demand, Higher Shipments, Cost Reductions and Operational Efficiencies Steel unit cost reductions ~$10 per net ton compared to 2025 Cash Pension and OPEB payments and contributions ~$125 million 2026 Expected Capital Outlay and Expenses Depreciation, depletion and amortization ~$1.1 billion Selling, general and administrative expenses ~$575 million Capital expenditures ~$700 million Steel shipment volumes of ~16.5 - 17.0 million net tons
Page 21
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.21 CLEVELAND-CLIFFS’ ADJUSTED EBITDA RECONCILIATION Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended ($ in millions) December 31, 2025 December 31, 2025 Net loss ($235) ($1,428) Less: Interest expense, net (152) (594) Income tax benefit 206 581 Depreciation, depletion and amortization (272) (1,235) Total EBITDA ($17) ($180) Less: EBITDA from noncontrolling interests $15 $76 Idled facilities charges 6 (239) Changes in fair value of derivatives, net (11) (45) Currency exchange 11 37 Severance - (25) Loss on extinguishment of debt (10) (10) Gain on sale of business 9 9 Loss on disposal of assets (1) (7) Amortization of inventory step-up - 6 Acquisition-related costs - (1) Other, net (15) (18) Total Adjusted EBITDA ($21) $37
Page 22
© 2026 Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. All Rights Reserved.