- Surging steel prices are being fueled by strong demand for steel rather than tariffs, as manufacturers adjust to the strong economic recovery following last year's shutdowns, Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in a media call today.
- "It's all supply and demand," the CEO said. "We are in a situation right now that everybody wants steel, and everybody wants steel now. That's because they did not prepare during COVID-time when prices were very low."
- U.S. steel tariffs are not a "must have" from a business standpoint but are necessary to keep in place to deter unfair trade practices by certain foreign entities, Goncalves also said.
- "The problem is that the bad players never learned and apparently continue not to learn [from the tariffs], and they will continue to make the same mistakes that caused the tariffs to be put in place in the first place," he said.
- ETF: SLX
- Cleveland-Cliffs hit a 52-week intraday high $22.90 before turning lower, closing -1.9% at $20.71; shares have soared more than four-fold in the past year.
- "Cleveland-Cliffs is a long-term buy, but don't get caught in the short-sighted mania," Vladimir Dimitrov writes in a neutral analysis newly published on Seeking Alpha.