CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC. (CLF) Business

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

INTRODUCTION

We are a leading North America-based steel producer with focus on value-added sheet products, particularly for the automotive industry. We are vertically integrated from the mining of iron ore, production of pellets and direct reduced iron, and processing of ferrous scrap through primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling and tubing. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, we employ approximately 25,000 people across our operations in the United States and Canada.

COMPETITIVE STRENGTHS

As a leading North America-based steel producer, we benefit from having the size and scale necessary in a competitive, capital intensive business. We have a unique vertically integrated profile from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron, and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling and tubing. This positioning gives us more predictable costs throughout our supply chain and more control over both our manufacturing inputs and our end-product destination.

Our primary competitive strength lies within our automotive steel business. We are a leading supplier of automotive-grade steel in the U.S. Compared to other steel end markets, automotive steel is generally higher quality, more operationally and technologically intensive to produce, and requires significantly more devotion to customer service than other steel end markets. This dedication to service and the infrastructure in place to meet our automotive customers’ demanding needs took decades to develop. We have continued to invest capital and resources to meet the requirements needed to serve the automotive industry. We continue to be an established and reliable supplier of automotive-grade steel and intend to bolster our position as an industry leader going forward.

Due to its demanding nature, the automotive steel business typically generates higher through-the-cycle margins, making it a desirable end market. Demand for our automotive-grade steel is expected to be healthier in the coming years as a result of government support for domestically produced vehicles, the further shift away from other metals such as aluminum, declining interest rates, low unemployment rate, and the replacement of older vehicles. As an established and reliable supplier of domestically produced automotive-grade steel, we expect customers to continue to look to us to serve increased demand in the coming years.

Since becoming a steel company in 2020, we have dedicated significant resources to maintain and upgrade our facilities and equipment. The quality of our assets gives us a unique advantage in product offerings and operational efficiencies. After elevated spend in 2022 to perform overdue maintenance work at the facilities acquired as part of our 2020 acquisitions, we resumed normalized levels of maintenance capital and operating expenses in 2023, which continued throughout 2024 and 2025. The necessary resources that we have invested in our footprint are expected to keep our assets at an automotive-grade level of quality and reliability for years to come.

Our ability to source our primary feedstock domestically, and primarily internally, is a competitive strength. This model reduces our exposure to volatile pricing and unreliable global sourcing. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, along with other global tensions, and the Trump administration's focus on U.S. manufacturing, have displayed the importance of our North American-centric footprint, as our competitors primarily operating EAF facilities rely on imported pig iron to produce flat-rolled steel, the supply of which, from time-to time, has been disrupted. The best example is our legacy business of producing iron ore pellets. By internally sourcing the vast majority of our iron ore pellet requirements, our primary steelmaking raw material feedstock can be secured at a stable and predictable cost and not be subject to as many factors outside of our control.

We believe we offer the most comprehensive flat-rolled steel product selection in the industry, along with several complementary products and services. A sampling of our offering includes advanced high-strength steel, hot-dipped galvanized, aluminized, galvalume, electrogalvanized, galvanneal, HRC, cold-rolled coil, plate, GOES, NOES, stainless steels, tool and die, stamped components and slabs. Across the quality spectrum and the supply chain, our customers can frequently find the solutions they need from our product selection.

We are a leading producer of electrical steels in the U.S., which we believe will be critical for the modernization of the electrical grid. Distribution transformers are critical to the maintenance and expansion of America’s electric grid. Transformers are in short supply, and that shortage stifles economic growth across the country. The shortage will continue to be exacerbated by the anticipated widespread adoption of AI in virtually all sectors of the economy, which will exponentially increase the consumption of electricity in the U.S. and worldwide. Because of these industry dynamics and our current customer base, our electrical steel business is expected to continue to achieve strong profitability in the coming years.

We are the first and the only producer of HBI in the Great Lakes region. From our Toledo, Ohio facility, we produce a high-quality, low-cost and low-carbon intensive HBI product that can be used in our blast furnaces as a productivity enhancer, or in our BOFs and EAFs as a premium scrap alternative. We use HBI to stretch our hot metal production, lowering carbon intensity and reliance on coke. With increasing tightness in the scrap and metallics markets combined with our own internal needs, we expect our Toledo direct reduction plant to continue to support our operational efficiency going forward.

One of our most critical strengths that differentiates us from others in our industry is a unique and powerful partnership with our unionized workforce, particularly the USW. With over 18,000 employees subject to collective bargaining agreements, our strong and productive labor relationships are key to our long-term success and allow us to work together in achieving our goals. A clear

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example of the strength of our relationship is how we partner together to fight against dumped and illegally subsidized imported steel products. Our deep alignment with our represented employees is also recognized by our political leaders, who often publicly support us as a significant employer of a unionized workforce with a track record of working to maintain and increase middle class jobs.

STRATEGY

MAXIMIZE OUR COMMERCIAL STRENGTHS

We offer a full suite of flat steel products encompassing effectively all of our customers' needs. We are a leading supplier to the automotive sector, where our portfolio of high-end products delivers a broad range of differentiated solutions for this highly sought after customer base. As an established and reliable supplier of domestically produced automotive-grade steel, we expect to bolster our position as an industry leader going forward.

Our unique capabilities, driven by our portfolio of assets and technical expertise, give us an advantage in our flat-rolled product offering. We offer products that have superior formability, surface quality, strength and corrosion resistance for the automotive industry. In addition, our state-of-the-art Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio gives us the ability to collaborate with our customers and create new products and develop new and efficient steel manufacturing processes.

Our five-year contract to supply semi-finished steel slabs that was initiated in connection with the closing of the AM USA Transaction expired on December 9, 2025. This contract historically represented approximately 10 percent of our sales volume and was unprofitable in 2024 and 2025. The conclusion of this contract provides a significant opportunity to shift sales and product mix to higher margin business and improve efficiency within our operations.

OPTIMIZE OUR FULLY-INTEGRATED STEELMAKING FOOTPRINT

We are a fully-integrated steel enterprise with an expansive footprint providing the ability to achieve healthy margins for flat-rolled steel throughout the business cycle. Our focus remains on realizing our inherent cost advantage in flat-rolled steel while continuing to optimize our footprint. The combination of our ferrous raw materials, including iron ore, scrap and HBI, allows us to do so relative to peers who must rely on more unpredictable and unreliable raw material sourcing strategies.

During 2025, we made the decision to fully or partially idle, or permanently close, six of our operations. We made the decision to idle our blast furnace, BOF steel shop, and continuous casting facilities at our Dearborn facility. We also made the decision to permanently close our Steelton, Conshohocken and Riverdale facilities due to underperformance at these operations. Additionally, we made the decision to idle the Minorca mine and partially idle the Hibbing mine in order to consume excess pellet inventory produced in 2024. Our recent changes allow us to streamline our operations and enhance efficiency, with minimal impact to our flat-rolled steel output.

EXPLORE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES

During the third quarter of 2025, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (the “Memorandum of Understanding”) with POSCO, Korea's largest steelmaker and the world's third largest steelmaker outside of China, who seeks to leverage our unmatched U.S. footprint and trade-compliant operations to support and grow its established U.S. customer base while ensuring that its products meet U.S. trade and origin requirements. The Memorandum of Understanding reflects rising interest in Cliffs amid the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing and should enable smooth onboarding for downstream industrial customers moving production from South Korea to the U.S. The potential transaction with POSCO is expected to be highly accretive to our shareholders. UBS is acting as our financial advisor for the potential transaction.

Also, during the third quarter of 2025, we announced that we engaged J.P. Morgan as our advisor and launched sell-side processes to explore the potential sale of certain non-core operating assets. As an American-based company with desirable assets, we are favorably positioned to potentially benefit from asset sales. In addition to non-core operating assets, we have received inbound inquiries for us to sell recently idled facilities and certain other inactive sites. We expect the net proceeds of any potential transaction to be used to pay down debt.

Beyond steelmaking, the renewed importance of rare earths in the U.S. has driven us to re-focus on this potential opportunity at our upstream mining assets. We have begun to explore rare earths at our ore bodies and tailings basins and have identified two sites with key geological indicators for rare-earth extraction potential. If successful, it would align us with the broader national strategy for critical material independence. Before we can determine the economic potential for rare-earth extraction at our properties, we will need to conduct additional technical and economic studies, and there can be no assurance that rare-earth extraction at our properties will be economical.

CAPTURE SYNERGIES FROM RECENT ACQUISITIONS

On November 1, 2024, we completed the Stelco Acquisition. The Stelco Acquisition confirmed our commitment to and leadership in integrated steel production in North America and strengthened our cost position by incorporating one of the lowest cost flat-rolled steelmaking assets in North America within our footprint. The Stelco Acquisition expanded our existing presence in Canada and diversified our customer base in Canada across service centers, construction and other industrial end markets with higher volumes of spot sales. As a result of the Stelco Acquisition, our exposure to the North American spot market doubled, giving us further insight into spot market dynamics and diversifying our customer base toward spot customers.

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We have demonstrated a consistent track record of exceeding our initial synergy estimates associated with value-enhancing transactions through mergers and acquisitions. With our proven ability to integrate acquired assets and capture synergies, significant synergy opportunities from the Stelco Acquisition were identified and achieved, including asset and capital expenditure optimization, procurement savings, selling, general and administrative expenses, duplicative public company costs and other opportunities.

IMPROVE FINANCIAL FLEXIBILITY

Given the cyclicality of our business, it is important to us to be in the financial position to easily withstand economic cycles and be opportunistic when attractive strategic opportunities arise. Since becoming a steel company in 2020, we have demonstrated our ability to generate healthy free cash flow and use it to reduce substantial amounts of debt, return capital to shareholders, and make investments to both improve and grow our business.

We have a track record of demonstrating that we can quickly deleverage our balance sheet and have also historically shown our ability to take advantage of volatility in the debt markets and repurchase notes at a discount. We expect to generate healthy free cash flow in the coming years and intend to utilize it to deleverage our balance sheet. We also maintain a long maturity runway with our outstanding debt, with our nearest senior note maturities coming in 2029, have healthy liquidity consisting of cash and availability under our ABL Facility of $3.3 billion as of December 31, 2025, and have approximately $3.2 billion of secured note capacity, which supports our flexibility to navigate varied economic environments for extended periods of time.

ENHANCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

We remain committed to operating our business in a more environmentally responsible manner.

In May 2024, we announced our commitment to achieve new GHG emissions reduction targets after we successfully achieved our prior commitment set in 2021 to reduce Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from purchased electricity or other forms of energy) GHG emissions by 25% by 2030, relative to 2017 levels, well ahead of our 2030 target year. Our goals set forth below, relative to 2023 levels, include:

▪A target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity per metric ton of crude steel by 30% by 2035;

▪A target to reduce material upstream Scope 3 GHG emissions intensity per metric ton of crude steel by 20% by 2035; and

▪A long-term target aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario to reduce Scope 1, 2 and material upstream 3 emissions intensity per metric ton of crude steel to near net zero by 2050.

Additionally, we have made significant progress in reducing our emissions on a per ton basis. Since 2020, we have reduced our average Scope 1 and 2 emissions of integrated mills from 1.82 to 1.58 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per metric ton of crude steel produced in 2024, which is significantly lower than the global industry average.

We have partnered with the DOE to advance capital projects that support decarbonization and energy efficiency. These include equipment upgrades at our Butler and Middletown facilities, each of which will support our environmental sustainability efforts.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

We have a vertically integrated portfolio, which begins at the mining stage and goes all the way through the manufacturing of steel products, including stamping, tooling and tubing. We have the unique advantage as a steel producer of being fully or partially self-sufficient with our production of raw materials for steel manufacturing, which includes iron ore pellets, HBI, scrap, coking coal and coke. We are organized into four operating segments based on the differentiated products – Steelmaking, Tubular, Tooling and Stamping, and European Operations. We primarily operate through one reportable segment – the Steelmaking segment.

Our primary steel producing and finishing facilities are located across Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Ontario. We currently operate seven blast furnaces and four EAFs with the configured capability of producing approximately 20.0 million net tons of raw steel annually. Raw steel is generally cast into slabs and finished based on customer specifications. Finishing is completed on site at our integrated operations or at one of our standalone finishing facilities.

Ferrous raw materials for the production of steel are primarily internally sourced from our iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota, our direct reduction plant in Ohio, and our scrap facilities in Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee and Ontario. We also operate a coal mining complex in West Virginia and produce coke from our facilities in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Ontario.

Our Other Businesses primarily includes the Tubular and Tooling and Stamping operating segments that provide customer solutions with carbon and stainless steel tubing products, advanced-engineered solutions, tool design and build, hot- and cold-stamped steel components and complex assemblies.

Refer to Part I – Item 2. Properties for additional information.

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PRODUCTS AND MARKETS

As a fully integrated steel enterprise, we have a comprehensive portfolio of steel solutions. We primarily sell our products to customers in four broad market categories. The following table presents the percentage of our revenues to each of these markets during the year:

We sell our products principally to customers in North America. We sell approximately 35-40% of our flat-rolled steel shipments under fixed price contracts. These contracts are typically annual or multi-year in duration and expire at various times throughout the year. Some of these contracts have a surcharge mechanism that passes through certain changes in input costs. The remaining portion of our flat-rolled steel shipments are sold based on the spot market at prevailing market prices or under contracts that involve variable pricing that is tied to an independently published steel index.

AUTOMOTIVE MARKET

We specialize in manufacturing difficult-to-produce and high-quality steel products with demanding delivery performance and first-class customer technical support. Through our collaborative relationships with automotive producers, we develop breakthrough steel solutions that help our customers meet their product requirements. A prime example of our ability to help our customers through research and development occurred during the fourth quarter of 2025 when we successfully completed a production trial in collaboration with a major automotive customer, where our steel was stamped into exposed parts with no defects using the customer's existing aluminum-forming equipment. After the successful production trial, we moved to routine production and delivery of regular orders to the customer. The quality of our steel is appealing to end users because of its strength, surface quality and formability. EAF producers’ equipment is designed to utilize scrap as their main feedstock, which often contains high residual or impure content, limiting their product capabilities. The exacting requirements for servicing the automotive market generally allows for higher selling prices for products sold to that market than for the commodity types of steel sold to other markets.

The largest end user for our steel products is the automotive industry in North America, which makes light vehicle production a key driver of demand. During 2025, North American light vehicle production was 15.3 million units, down from 15.4 million units in 2024 and well below pre-COVID levels of approximately 17 million units. North American light vehicle production in 2026 and beyond is expected to remain at or above 15 million units annually. Additionally, the average age of light vehicles on the road in the U.S. is at an all-time high of 12.8 years, which should support demand as older vehicles need to be replaced. Furthermore, we expect the 25% tariff on imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, which were implemented during 2025, to lead to increased demand for domestically produced vehicles that consume domestically made steel. We also expect that a declining interest rate environment would increase demand for vehicles in the U.S. as consumers have been cautious due to elevated interest rates. As a leading supplier of automotive-grade steel in the U.S., we expect to benefit from healthier domestic vehicle production over the coming years as we continue to be an established and reliable supplier.

Furthermore, during 2025, consumer demand for sport utility vehicles, trucks and crossovers continued to increase, while demand for smaller sedans and compact cars declined. We benefit from intentionally targeting larger vehicle platforms to take advantage of consumer preferences, and we have focused on and have been successful in supplying sizeable portions of numerous large vehicle platforms. As a result, a significant portion of the automotive steel that we sell is used to produce these popular larger vehicles. In addition to benefiting from our exposure to consumers’ strong demand for larger vehicles, these vehicles also typically contain a higher volume of steel than smaller sedans and compact cars, providing us the opportunity to sell a higher volume of our steel products.

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Automotive manufacturers continue to explore opportunities to develop vehicles that are lighter in weight. We collaborate with our automotive customers and their other suppliers to develop innovative solutions using our developments in light weighting, efficiency, and material strength and formability across our extensive product portfolio, in combination with our automotive stamping and tube-making capabilities. We believe we offer steel products that are stronger, less expensive, have competitive weight savings, are easier to repair and are more environmentally friendly than alternative materials. In addition, recent disruptions in the aluminum supply chain have begun to push auto manufacturers to source incremental steel from us.

During 2025, the car market saw record EV sales in the United States, with continued increased demand expected during 2026. Many motors used in EVs being sold in the U.S. today are imported from foreign suppliers, but more local sourcing and manufacturing of motors is expected to occur in the future. As a leading producer in North America of high-efficiency NOES, which is a critical component of EV motors, we are positioned to potentially benefit from the growth of EV sales going forward. We believe our strong foundation in electrical steels and long-standing relationships with automotive manufacturers and their other suppliers will provide us with an advantage in this market as it continues to grow and mature. Likewise, growing customer adoption of EVs may also increase demand for improvements in the electric grid to support higher demand for more extensive battery charging infrastructure, which our GOES could support.

The majority of our sales to the automotive market are under annual or multi-year fixed price contracts.

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING MARKET

We sell a variety of our steel products, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized, plate, stainless and electrical, to the infrastructure and manufacturing market. This market includes sales to manufacturers of HVAC, appliances, power transmission and distribution transformers, border wall materials, storage tanks, ships, railcars, wind towers, machinery parts, heavy equipment and military armor. Domestic construction activity and the replacement of aging infrastructure directly affect sales of steel to this market. We expect steel demand to grow, as tariffs support demand for domestically produced steel, end-user demand improves, interest rates continue to decline, and incremental steel demand stimulated by recent government legislation and manufacturing on-shoring is realized.

Sales to this end market are made under a combination of annual fixed price contracts, index-linked pricing arrangements and spot sales.

DISTRIBUTORS AND CONVERTERS MARKET

Virtually all of the grades of steel we produce are sold to the steel distributors and converters market. This market generally represents downstream steel service centers, which source various types of steel from us and fabricate it according to their customers' needs. Our steel is typically sold to this market on a spot basis or under contracts linked to steel pricing indices. Demand and pricing for this market can be highly dependent on a variety of factors, including global and domestic commodity steel production capacity, demand for manufactured goods, the price of scrap, the relative health of the global economy, the import and export levels of other steel producing nations, service center inventory management, the provisions of international trade agreements and fluctuations in international currencies.

The price for domestic HRC, the most significant index in driving the revenues and profitability of our Steelmaking segment, averaged $851 per net ton for 2025, compared to $772 per net ton for 2024. The significant increase was primarily driven by the implementation of steel tariffs, which help support domestic steel pricing and increase demand for domestically produced steel.

STEEL PRODUCERS MARKET

The steel producers market represents third-party sales to other steel producers, including those who operate blast furnaces and EAFs. It includes any sales of raw materials and semi-finished and finished goods, including iron ore pellets, coal, coke, HBI, scrap, slab and other steel products.

FPT is one of the largest processors of prime scrap in the U.S. Our steelmaking operations consume a large portion of the ferrous scrap processed by FPT. We also have third-party sales of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.

The price of busheling scrap, a necessary input for flat-rolled steel production in EAFs in the U.S., averaged $424 per long ton during 2025, which remained well above the historical ten-year average of approximately $385 per long ton. We expect the price of busheling scrap to remain elevated above historical averages in the coming years due to the continued decline of prime scrap generation and the growth of EAF capacity in the U.S., along with a push for expanded scrap use globally.

Third-party slab sales were historically a large component of sales to this market, which were primarily made under a long-term supply agreement that was initiated in connection with the closing of the AM USA Transaction. Under the terms of the contract, we supplied approximately 1.5 million tons of slab annually, with pricing directly linked to the Brazilian slab export price, which was negatively impacted in 2025 by tariffs. The contract expired on December 9, 2025, and we have since shifted sales to products with higher profit margins.

APPLIED TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

The utilization of our research and development capabilities has allowed us to introduce new steel products to the marketplace. Our research and development activities provide us the ability to offer a broad range of steel products, improve existing products and processes and develop new ones. As part of our underlying strategy to maintain and improve our product, service and technical capabilities, research and innovation spend totaled $22 million and $27 million in 2025 and 2024, respectively.

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As a leading supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America, it is important that we maintain our world-class research and development team to expand our capabilities and bring new steel products to the marketplace. Our ongoing efforts begin at our state-of-the-art Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio, where we collaborate with our automotive customers and their suppliers to develop products that meet their needs. We have a customer technical support team that is dedicated to understanding customers’ current and long-term requirements and translating them into product designs. The dedication and resources we allocate toward our research and development help us maintain our extensive product offering and provide our automotive customers with solutions to meet their steel needs. We expect our research and development capabilities to support us in efforts to remain a leading supplier to the automotive industry as automotive manufacturers continue to pursue EVs, lighter weight vehicles and other advancements in vehicle capabilities.

A prime example of our ability to help our customers through research and development occurred during the fourth quarter of 2025, when we successfully completed a production trial in collaboration with a major automotive customer, where our steel was stamped into exposed parts with no defects using the customer's existing aluminum-forming equipment. The trial marked a significant milestone in demonstrating that our steel can effectively replace aluminum in critical automotive applications without the need for costly retooling. Our ongoing innovation efforts showcase the advanced technical capabilities behind our world-class products.

COMPETITION

Our Steelmaking segment primarily competes with domestic and foreign producers of flat-rolled carbon, plate, stainless and electrical steels, carbon and stainless tubular products, aluminum, carbon fiber, concrete and other materials that may be used as a substitute for flat-rolled steels in manufactured products. Our Tooling and Stamping and Tubular Components businesses both compete against other niche downstream business in highly fragmented markets.

The steel industry is often viewed as volatile and is subject to the market price of steel. Market pricing can be adversely impacted from foreign competition selling steel products into the U.S. at unfair discounts and the oversupply of steel products within the domestic market from both domestic and foreign competition. During 2025, President Trump implemented 50% Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from all major steel producing countries, which we believe will support a healthy domestic steel industry for years to come. Additionally, we utilize fixed price contracts to reduce volatility from market pricing, which provides us stability on a large portion of our business when market pricing is volatile.

Price, quality, on-time delivery, customer service, technical expertise, and product innovation are the primary competitive factors in the steel industry and vary in importance according to the product category and customer requirements. Steel producers that sell to the automotive market are required to meet strict and high-quality product specifications that demand strong technical capabilities, investment in capital and other resources to manage inventory, customer service, and research and development. As a leading supplier of steel to the automotive industry in North America, we continue to meet all the requirements needed to serve the automotive industry and maintain or increase our position as an industry leader going forward. Significant capital investments in equipment, technology and other resources that would effectively replicate our processes would be required for certain competitors to meet all the demands required of the automotive industry.

The steel industry has faced competition from aluminum manufacturers (and, to a lesser extent, other materials) as automotive manufacturers attempt to develop vehicles that are lighter in weight. To address automotive manufacturers’ light weighting needs that the aluminum industry is targeting, we have developed advanced high-strength steel grades that we believe provide weight savings similar to aluminum, while being stronger, less costly, easier to repair, more sustainable and more environmentally friendly. Aluminum penetration has been primarily limited to specific automotive applications, such as outer panels and closures, rather than entire body designs. In addition, our automotive customers who continue to use steel, as opposed to aluminum and other alternative materials, are able to depend on a more reliable supply chain in comparison to aluminum, which experienced major supply chain disruptions in 2025, including 50% tariffs and a major fire at a U.S.-based aluminum producer.

EAFs comprise over 70% of steel production and more than 50% of flat-rolled steel production in the U.S. The primary raw materials used by EAFs include scrap metal and ore based metallics, which have unpredictable and often volatile pricing. Additionally, the availability of these materials can be unreliable, as most of our competitors rely on imported ore based metallics. Due to recently completed and further announced flat-rolled EAF capacity additions in the U.S., and increasing focus on industry decarbonization, we expect the price of scrap to remain elevated over historical averages, providing our integrated footprint a competitive cost advantage. Our integrated facilities utilize domestic and primarily internally sourced iron ore as the primary feedstock, which allows us to produce high-quality products with low residual content. We also possess the breadth and depth of customer service, technical support, and research and development necessary to supply the demanding needs of the automotive industry and other demanding end markets. The additional capacity from domestic EAF competition could displace imports as the U.S. remains the largest net importer of steel in the world, and steel tariffs implemented by President Trump should support healthy demand for domestically produced steel for years to come.

Domestic steel producers can face significant competition from foreign producers. In certain instances, these foreign producers are able to sell products in the U.S. at prices substantially lower than domestic producers. Depending on the country of origin, these reasons may include government subsidies; illegal dumping; lower labor, raw material, energy and regulatory costs; less stringent environmental regulations; less stringent safety requirements; the maintenance of artificially low exchange rates against the U.S. dollar; and preferential trade practices in their home countries. During 2025, President Trump implemented 50% steel tariffs on all major steel producing countries to combat unfair competition from foreign steel producers and support a healthy domestic steel industry. The USMCA melted and poured requirements further mitigate the impact of imported steel by ensuring that qualifying products are produced from steel melted and poured within North America, thereby limiting the use of foreign substrate. In 2025, finished steel imports decreased 17% compared to the prior year, as the tariffs made imports less attractive. Disparity between domestic and foreign steel prices or modifications to trade policies on imported steel by government authorities could directly or

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indirectly impact import levels in the future. Import levels are also affected to varying degrees by the relative level of steel production in China and other countries, the strength of demand for steel outside the U.S., and the relative strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar against various foreign currencies. Imports of finished steel into the U.S. accounted for 18% of domestic steel market consumption in 2025, down from 23% in 2024.

We continue to provide significant pension and healthcare benefits to a greater number of our retirees compared to certain other domestic and foreign steel producers that do not provide such benefits to any or most of their retirees, which impacts our overall cost of production relative to certain other steelmakers. However, we have taken a number of actions to reduce pension and healthcare benefits costs, including proactively renegotiating lower healthcare premiums, negotiating progressive labor agreements, transferring responsibility for healthcare benefits for various groups of retirees to VEBAs, offering voluntary lump-sum settlements to pension plan participants and lowering retiree benefit costs for salaried employees. These actions have not only reduced some of the risks associated with our pension funding obligations, but more importantly have reduced our risk exposure to performance of the financial markets, which is a principal driver of pension funding requirements. We continue to actively seek opportunities to reduce pension and healthcare benefits costs.

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

Our operations are subject to various laws and regulations governing the protection of human health and the environment. We monitor these laws and regulations, which change over time, to assess whether the changes affect our operations. We actively manage our operations in a manner that is protective of human health and the environment. We implement our environmental programs in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and permits. We have implemented environmental management systems certified to ISO 14001:2015 standards as part of our environmental program, and 100% of our steelmaking facilities are certified.

In the construction and operation of our facilities, substantial costs have been and will continue to be incurred to comply with regulatory requirements and avoid undue effect on the environment. In 2025, 2024 and 2023, our capital expenditures relating to environmental matters totaled $66 million, $67 million and $66 million, respectively. Our current estimate for capital expenditures for environmental control facilities in 2026 is approximately $71 million for various water treatment, air quality, dust control, tailings management and other miscellaneous environmental projects. Additionally, we expect capital expenditures for environmental control facilities for each of 2027 and 2028 to be generally in line with 2026's estimated spending.

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Various governmental bodies continually promulgate new or amended laws and regulations that affect us, our customers and our suppliers in many areas, including air emissions and water discharges, waste management and disposal, the classification of materials and products, and other environmental, health and safety matters. Although we believe that our environmental policies and practices are sound and do not expect that the application of current laws, regulations or permits would reasonably be expected to result in a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition (except as noted below), we cannot predict the collective potential adverse impact of the expanding body of laws and regulations. Moreover, because all U.S. and Canadian steel, scrap and mining producers operate under similar environmental regulations, we do not believe that we are more disadvantaged than our competitors within the U.S. and Canada by our need to comply with these regulations. Some foreign competitors may benefit from less stringent environmental requirements in the countries where they produce, resulting in lower compliance costs for them and providing those foreign competitors with a cost advantage on their products.

There are, however, several notable proposed or recently promulgated rulemakings or activities that could have a material adverse impact on our facilities in the future depending on their ultimate outcome: changes to National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants in the taconite, integrated iron and steel, lime, and coke sectors; climate change and GHG regulations; changes to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter; changes to ozone regulations; selenium discharge regulation; Minnesota's sulfate wild rice water quality standard; Minnesota's mercury reduction rules; and efforts to reduce SO2 levels at steel plants in Canada.

NESHAPS FOR TACONITE, INTEGRATED IRON AND STEEL, LIME, AND COKE CATEGORIES

Under the Clean Air Act, within eight years after promulgating National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) in industry-specific categories, the EPA must review the standards to determine whether they continue to protect human health with an ample margin of safety and protect against adverse environmental effects. In addition, the EPA is required to review and revise the standard every eight years to account for improvements in HAP control technology or methods.

The EPA has worked with the taconite, integrated iron and steel, lime, and coke industries for years to collect data in order to recalculate the risk from HAP emissions from each category and to address whether new technologies existed in those sectors. The EPA determined that the risk from the sources in these categories was acceptable. However, in response to a court order, the EPA then issued revisions to the rulemakings for numerous source categories, including taconite and integrated iron and steel.

In January 2024, the EPA finalized amendments to the taconite sector rule that contain new limits for mercury and acid gases (hydrogen chloride and hydrogen fluoride). In March 2024, the EPA finalized amendments to the integrated iron and steel sector rule that contain numerous new emission limits and work practices for blast furnaces, BOF operations, slag processing and sintering operations. Lastly, for the coke and lime sectors, the EPA finalized new limits and other requirements in May 2024 and July 2024, respectively. In August 2024, the EPA granted partial reconsideration of the final integrated iron and steel sector rule and expressed its intent to issue technical corrections. Reconsideration is ongoing. These rules have compliance obligations starting in 2027.

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We have filed Petitions for Administrative Reconsideration and Stay to the EPA and Petitions for Judicial Review and Stay of each of these rules. In March 2025, the EPA announced the reconsideration of these rules as part of a broader deregulatory initiative. In addition, compliance deadlines for the taconite sector and coke rules were extended for two years through Presidential exemptions. However, if the EPA or the courts uphold any of the rules in their current form, the impacts on us could be material.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND GREENHOUSE GAS REGULATIONS

Continued attention to issues concerning climate change, the role of human activity in affecting climate change, and potential mitigation through regulation and legislation may have a material impact on our customers and suppliers, our operations and our financial results in the future. Policymakers are evaluating, developing or reconsidering carbon regulation at all levels of government. Additionally, international treaties or agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, may influence legislative and regulatory decisions in the U.S. and Canada. Potential domestic and international climate-related regulations and legislation that could impact our business include climate-related reporting obligations, mandatory GHG emissions reductions, carbon pricing mechanisms and trade policies, such as the federal and provincial carbon pricing programs in Canada and the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, and climate-related procurement and product labeling requirements. The dynamic outlook for these potential regulations limits our ability to quantify the long-term net impacts of potential carbon compliance costs to our operations. In the absence of comprehensive federal carbon legislation, numerous state, regional and other regulatory initiatives are under development or are becoming effective, thereby creating a disjointed approach to GHG emissions limitations, potential carbon pricing and climate-related procurement activities. We intend to remain active in the discussions related to these evolving legislative and regulatory changes.

Our exposure on this issue includes both the direct and indirect financial risks associated with the regulation of GHG emissions, as well as potential physical risks associated with climate change adaptation. We periodically review the physical risks related to climate change. As an energy-intensive business, we have a broad range of GHG emissions sources, such as iron ore furnaces and kilns, mobile equipment, EAFs and integrated steelmaking facilities, among others. As such, our potential regulatory risks include: (1) the costs associated with on-site emissions levels (direct impacts) or the reduction thereof; and (2) indirect costs passed through to us from energy providers and other suppliers (indirect impacts).

Internationally, mechanisms to require or incentivize emissions reductions are being implemented in various countries, with differing designs and stringency, according to resources, economic structure and politics. However, some foreign competitors outside of the U.S. and Canada may benefit from less stringent climate-related requirements, providing those foreign competitors with a cost advantage on their products.

Due to potential carbon restriction schemes, our businesses and customer base could suffer negative financial impacts over time as a result of increased energy, environmental and other costs to comply with GHG emissions limitations. We believe our exposure can be reduced by numerous factors, including engaging with relevant stakeholders and policymakers on potential GHG regulation and legislation and emissions reduction opportunities, such as energy efficiency, emerging emissions reduction technologies, and other efficiency-improving material inputs, products and technologies.

CHANGES TO NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS FOR PARTICULATE MATTER

In February 2024, the EPA finalized an amendment to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for particulate matter. The final rule lowers the primary annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) level from 12 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) of air to 9 ug/m3. This standard became effective in May 2024, potentially impacting air permitting and requiring additional emission reductions for existing operations. The potential changes to air pollution control equipment or operations needed to comply with the new particulate matter standard at our operations are not known at this time and the potential cost is not estimable. If the rule is not amended or rescinded by the EPA or the courts uphold the rule in its current form, the impact on us could be material.

CHANGES TO OZONE REGULATIONS

In 2023, the EPA finalized new standards under its ozone transport authority for nitrogen oxide (an ozone precursor) on various industries (including the steel and iron ore sectors) that operate in specific states, including numerous states where we operate (Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia). In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the ozone transport rule, and further judicial review is expected in 2026.

Our Middletown, Cleveland, Indiana Harbor and Burns Harbor facilities are located in counties designated as not attaining the ozone ambient air quality standard. We are working with the state regulatory agencies to request modifications to the attainment standard by the EPA based on technical data. In addition, state regulatory agencies have established new emission standards for applicable emission sources, including boilers, reheat furnaces and other large fuel combustion sources. We estimate that the potential changes to comply with the new ozone requirements would cost us $8 million in 2026, and we could incur additional capital investment in the future should additional reductions be required to maintain the regional ambient air quality below the standard.

SELENIUM DISCHARGE REGULATION

In Michigan, our Empire and Tilden mines have implemented compliance plans to manage selenium according to applicable permit conditions. Construction of a water treatment system for both facilities is anticipated to begin in 2028, and the system is anticipated to be operational in 2030. As of December 31, 2025, included within our Empire asset retirement obligation is a discounted liability of approximately $143 million, which includes the estimated costs associated with the construction of Empire's portion of the required infrastructure and expected future operating costs of the treatment facilities. Additionally, included within our Tilden future capital plan is approximately $32 million for the construction of Tilden's portion of the required infrastructure. We are continuing to assess and develop potential cost effective and sustainable selenium treatment technologies.

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In July 2016, the EPA published new selenium fish tissue limits and lower lentic and lotic water column concentration criteria, which may someday increase the cost for treatment should the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy adopt these new standards in lieu of the existing limits required by the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative. Accordingly, we cannot reasonably estimate the timing or long-term impact of these water quality criteria on our business.

MINNESOTA'S SULFATE WILD RICE WATER QUALITY STANDARD

Upon future reissuance of NPDES renewal permits for our mining and pelletizing operations in Minnesota, we might be required to address sulfate concentrations in discharges to certain waterbodies. The impact of these potential obligations is currently not estimable. However, if we are required to significantly reduce sulfate concentrations in any discharges, the financial impacts on us could be material.

MINNESOTA'S MERCURY REDUCTION RULES

In September 2014, Minnesota promulgated the Mercury Air Emissions Reporting and Reduction Rules, mandating mercury air emissions reporting and reductions from certain sources, including taconite facilities. The rules apply to all of our Minnesota iron ore mining and pelletizing operations and required submittal of a Mercury Reduction Plan to the MPCA in 2018. In the Mercury Reduction Plan, facilities evaluated if available control technologies could technically achieve a 72% mercury reduction rate. If available control technologies could not technically achieve a 72% mercury reduction rate, the facilities must propose alternative mercury reduction measures. One of the main tenets agreed upon for evaluating potential mercury reduction technologies during TMDL implementation and 2014 rule development proceedings was that the selected technology must meet the following “Adaptive Management Criteria”: the technology must be technically feasible; must be economically feasible; must not impact pellet quality; and must not cause excessive corrosion in the indurating furnaces or air pollution control equipment.

The Mercury Reduction Plans for our Minnesota facilities were submitted to the MPCA in December 2018. The plans determined that there are currently no proven technologies to cost effectively reduce mercury emissions from taconite furnaces to achieve the targeted 72% reduction rate, while satisfying all Adaptive Management Criteria. This determination was based on detailed engineering analysis and research testing. In June 2025, we provided updated Mercury Reduction Plan submittals for our United, Hibbing and Minorca mines to MPCA in response to the MPCA's request for additional information. The potential impacts are not estimable at this time because the revised Mercury Reduction Plans remain under MPCA's review.

REDUCTION OF SO2 LEVELS AT STEEL PLANTS IN CANADA

A federal pollution prevention notice issued under subsection 56(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 requires prescribed persons to prepare and implement pollution prevention plans addressing specified air emissions released from the iron and steel sector, including SO2. The notice applies to all Canadian steel mills, including Stelco, other integrated mills and EAF mills, and requires these mills to prepare and implement plans to achieve specified air emission targets for SO2. In parallel, the provincial Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks is in the process of developing an integrated steel sector technical standard for several air parameters, including SO2. Discussions are underway with both the federal and provincial regulators to harmonize the timing and required technology to reduce SO2 emissions. Potential impacts of implementation are not estimable at this time, pending details on SO2 reduction requirements by the provincial regulator, but could be material.

OTHER GOVERNMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS

In addition to environmental laws and regulations, we are subject to various laws and regulations around the world. For example, changes in trade regulations, including tariffs or other import or export restrictions, could lead to more volatile global steel prices, impacting our profitability. In addition, health and safety regulations, including OSHA and MSHA regulations, have necessitated, and may continue to necessitate, increased operating costs or capital investments to promote a safe working environment. Our businesses are subject to other complex foreign and U.S. laws and regulations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other anti-bribery laws, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and other U.S. and foreign privacy regulations, and transportation and logistics regulations. The laws and regulations noted above, as well as other applicable laws and regulations, or the manner in which they are interpreted or enforced, may adversely impact our earnings by increasing our costs and may require us to make material investments in the form of additional processes, training and capital, among other things. For a discussion of the risks associated with certain applicable laws and regulations, see Part I – Item 1A. Risk Factors.

RAW MATERIALS AND ENERGY

Our steelmaking operations require iron ore, HBI, coke, coal, steel scrap, chrome, nickel, zinc and other alloys as primary raw materials. We also consume natural gas, electricity, industrial gases and diesel fuel at our operations. As a vertically integrated steel company, we are able to internally supply a majority of our ferrous raw materials needed for our steelmaking operations. We also attempt to reduce the risk of future supply shortages and price volatility in other ways. If multi-year contracts are available in the marketplace for those raw materials that we cannot supply internally, we may use these contracts to secure sufficient supply to satisfy our key raw material needs. When multi-year contracts are not available, or are not available on acceptable terms, we purchase the remainder of our raw material needs under annual contracts or conduct spot purchases. We also regularly evaluate alternative sources and substitute materials. Additionally, we may hedge portions of our energy and raw materials purchases to reduce volatility and risk. We believe that we have secured, or will be able to secure, adequate supply to fulfill our raw materials and energy requirements for 2026.

The raw materials needed to produce a ton of steel will fluctuate based upon the specifications of the final steel products, the quality of raw materials and, to a lesser extent, differences among steel production equipment. For example, generally, in our integrated steelmaking facilities, we consume approximately 1.4 net tons of coal to produce one net ton of coke. The process to

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produce one ton of raw steel (generally defined as a carbon slab) requires approximately 1.4 net tons of iron ore pellets and/or HBI pellet equivalents, 0.3 to 0.4 net tons of coke and 0.3 net tons of steel scrap or scrap substitutes. At normal operating levels, we also consume approximately 5 to 6 MMBtu’s of natural gas per net ton of raw steel produced, prior to rolling, finishing and further processing. Additionally, on average, our EAFs require 1.1 net tons of ferrous scrap, stainless scrap or scrap substitutes to produce one net ton of steel. While these estimated consumption amounts are presented to give a general sense of raw material and energy consumption used in our steel production, substantial variations may occur.

IRON ORE

We own or co-own five active iron ore mines in Minnesota and Michigan. While our Tilden, Northshore and United mines were fully operational as of December 31, 2025, our Minorca mine and a portion of our Hibbing mine were indefinitely idled. Accordingly, our ownership share of annual rated iron ore production capacity, as of December 31, 2025, was approximately 20.1 million long tons, which supplies the vast majority of the iron ore needed for our steelmaking operations. Additionally, Stelco has a multi-year supply agreement to meet its iron ore pellet requirements and is party to an option agreement providing it with the ability to purchase a 25% ownership interest in the MinnTac iron ore mine, located in Mt. Iron, Minnesota, at any time through January 31, 2027. Refer to Part I - Item 2. Properties for additional information regarding our active iron ore mines.

HBI

Our investment into HBI production provides us access, when needed, to clean iron units in order to make advanced steel and stainless products. This access to our own production provides us flexibility and allows us to avoid the risks and carbon footprints of imported iron substitutes. Iron substitutes imported into the U.S. are traditionally sourced from regions of the world that have historically experienced greater political turmoil and have lower pollution standards than the U.S. Our investment demonstrates our raw material strategy in responsibly managing the risks of pricing, availability and overall carbon footprint of our critical inputs. We have an annual capacity of 1.9 million metric tons of HBI. Refer to Part I - Item 2. Properties for additional information regarding our HBI operations.

COKE AND COAL

We own five active cokemaking facilities, three of which are located within our Burns Harbor, Lake Erie and Hamilton facilities. These facilities currently provide more than half of the coke requirements for our steelmaking operations and have an annual rated capacity of 4.0 million net tons. Additionally, we have third-party coke supply agreements that fulfill our remaining requirements. Our purchases of coke are made under annual or multi-year agreements with periodic price adjustments.

We have annual rated metallurgical coal production capacity of 1.8 million net tons from our Princeton mine, which supplies a portion of our metallurgical coal needs. We typically purchase most of our metallurgical coal under annual fixed price agreements. We believe there are adequate external supplies of coke and coal available at competitive market prices to meet our needs. Refer to Part I - Item 2. Properties for additional information regarding our coal mining and cokemaking operations.

STEEL SCRAP

We own the assets of FPT, which provides us sourcing and processing capabilities for both prime and obsolete scrap. This access is critical, because prime scrap demand is expected to grow as new flat-rolled EAF capacity has started to come online and is expected to increase in the coming years. FPT includes 21 facilities that are primarily located in the Midwest near our steel facilities. Additionally, our access to scrap furthers our commitment to being an environmentally-friendly, low-carbon intensity steelmaker with a cleaner materials mix as we are able to better optimize productivity at our existing EAFs and BOFs.

The majority of our scrap requirements can be generated or processed from internal sources, including scrap generated at our steel production facilities. We believe that supplies of additional steel scrap to meet the needs of our steelmaking operations are readily available from outside sources at competitive market prices. Refer to Part I - Item 2. Properties for additional information regarding our steel scrap operations.

OTHER MATERIALS

We believe that supplies of chrome, nickel, zinc and other alloys adequate to meet the needs of our steelmaking operations are readily available from outside sources at competitive market prices.

ENERGY

We consume a large amount of natural gas, electricity, industrial gases and diesel fuel, which are significant costs to our operations. The majority of our energy requirements are purchased from outside sources. Access to long-term, low-cost sources of energy in various forms is critically important to our operations.

Natural gas is procured for our operations utilizing a combination of long-term, annual, quarterly, monthly and spot contracts from various suppliers at market-based pricing. We believe access to low-cost and reliable sources of natural gas is available to meet our operations’ requirements.

We purchase electricity for all of our operations in either regulated or deregulated markets. Due to the distinct nature of the regulated market, we procure electricity through either long-term or annual contracts. In deregulated markets, we purchase the majority of our electricity in the day-ahead market. Some of our operations also use self-generated coke oven gas and/or blast furnace gas to produce electricity, which is an environmentally-friendly practice that also reduces our need to purchase electricity from external sources. Additionally, we closely monitor developments at the state and federal levels that could impact electricity

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availability or cost and incorporate such changes into our electricity supply strategy, such as the use of renewable energy, as part of our efforts to maintain reliable, low-cost supply. We believe there is an adequate supply of competitively priced electricity to fulfill our requirements.

We purchase industrial gases and diesel fuel under long-term contracts with various suppliers. We believe we have access to adequate supplies of industrial gases and diesel fuel to meet our needs.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Cliffs has a long, proven history of attracting and retaining exceptional talent. We believe our employee-centric management philosophy is the key to our success.

As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 25,000 people, with approximately 90% located within the U.S. Over 70% of our workforce are hourly employees, with the vast majority subject to collective bargaining agreements with various labor unions.

LABOR RELATIONS

Our labor relations philosophy is a cornerstone of our talent strategy. At Cliffs, we know that maintaining strong, positive relationships with labor unions is key to our long-term growth. We recognize and respect the right of our employees to freely associate and collectively bargain, and we do not engage in harassment, intimidation or retaliation for their efforts to bargain collectively.

More than 90% of Cliffs’ hourly workforce is represented by three prominent unions — USW, UAW and IAM. The hardworking union-represented men and women of Cliffs are the lifeblood of our Company. Our employees operate and maintain our facilities and are, ultimately, responsible for safely delivering a quality product internally and to our customers. Therefore, we engage with our unions as business partners, and together we have achieved a number of successes that benefit our business and our people alike.

We are proud to report that we successfully renegotiated all of our open labor agreements during 2025 without any difficulty or disruption. We expect to continue productive dialogue with our labor partners into 2026 as a number of our site agreements reach expiration and will be renegotiated. This positive partnership with our unions helps us remain competitive for talent and protects our customers and their supply chains from disruptions due to labor disagreements.

TALENT RETENTION

We believe that our future success largely depends upon our continued ability to attract and retain a highly skilled workforce. We provide our employees with competitive salaries, incentive-based bonus programs that provide above-market compensation opportunities when our Company performs well, development programs that enable continued learning and growth, and a robust benefits package that promotes well-being across all aspects of their lives, including health care, retirement planning and paid time off. In addition to these programs, we have used targeted, equity-based grants with vesting conditions to facilitate retention of key personnel. These tools have enabled us to increase the retention of key personnel, including our corporate and site leadership teams and critical technical talent.

ROBUST EMPLOYEE BENEFITS PROGRAMS

The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. Accordingly, we are committed to the health, safety and wellness of our employees. We provide our employees and their families with access to a variety of innovative, flexible, and convenient health and wellness programs, including benefits that provide protection and security so they can have peace of mind concerning events that may require time away from work or that impact their financial well-being; that support their physical and mental health by providing tools and resources to help them improve or maintain their health and encourage engagement in healthy behaviors; and that offer choice so they can customize their benefits to meet their needs and the needs of their families.

POSITIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE

Through our OneCliffs Way of Doing Business (our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics), we outline our Core Values, which include Trust, Respect and Open Communication. To us, this means encouraging and accepting different views and supporting an inclusive workplace. Further, our OneCliffs Way of Doing Business provides that we will not make employment-related decisions nor will we discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, military or veteran status, disability, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), pregnancy, genetic information, ethnicity or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We strive to make Cliffs a safe place to work for all. Harassment and/or intimidation are not tolerated anywhere in our Company. This allows our employees to develop a career at Cliffs by focusing on the meaningful and challenging work at our Company.

SAFETY

Safe production is our primary core value as we continue to reinforce a zero injury culture at our facilities. We constantly monitor our safety performance and make continuous improvements to effect change. Best practices and incident learnings are shared throughout the Company to ensure each facility can administer the most effective policies and procedures for enhanced workplace safety. Progress toward achieving our objectives is accomplished through a focus on proactive sustainable safety initiatives, and results are measured against established industry and Company benchmarks, including our Company-wide Total Reportable Incident Rate. During 2025, our Total Reportable Incident Rate (including contractors) was 0.8 per 200,000 hours worked.

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Refer to Exhibit 95 Mine Safety Disclosures for mine safety information required in accordance with Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Our headquarters are located at 200 Public Square, Suite 3300, Cleveland, Ohio 44114-2315, and our telephone number is (216) 694-5700. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and its rules and regulations. The Exchange Act requires us to file reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC.

The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. These materials may be obtained electronically by accessing the SEC’s home page at www.sec.gov.

We use our website, www.clevelandcliffs.com, as a channel for routine distribution of important information, including news releases, investor presentations and financial information. We also make available, free of charge on our website, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file these documents with, or furnish them to, the SEC. In addition, our website allows investors and other interested persons to sign up to receive automatic email alerts when we post news releases and financial information on our website.

We also make publicly available, free of charge, the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation and Organization Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, and Strategy and Sustainability Committee, the Corporate Governance Guidelines adopted by our Board of Directors, as well as our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. These documents are available through our investor relations page on our website at www.clevelandcliffs.com. The SEC filings are available by selecting “Investors,” and then “SEC Filings,” and corporate governance materials are available by selecting “Investors” then “Governance” and then “Governance Documents” for the Board Committee Charters, the Corporate Governance Guidelines, and the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.

References to our website or the SEC’s website do not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on such websites, and such information is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Copies of the above-referenced information are also available, free of charge, by calling (216) 694-5700 or upon written request to:

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

Investor Relations

200 Public Square, Suite 3300

Cleveland, OH 44114-2315

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INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Following are the names, ages and positions of the executive officers of the Company as of February 9, 2026. Unless otherwise noted, all positions indicated are or were held with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

All executive officers serve at the pleasure of the Board. There are no arrangements or understandings between any executive officer and any other person pursuant to which an executive officer was selected to be an officer of the Company. Celso Goncalves, our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, is the son of Lourenco Goncalves, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. There is no other family relationship between any of our executive officers or between any of our executive officers and any of our directors.

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