11:42 AM EDT, 07/21/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter driven by record steel shipments, while the steel producer said President Donald Trump's tariffs are helping buoy domestic manufacturing.

Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) on Monday posted an adjusted loss of $0.50 a share for the June quarter, compared with earnings of $0.11 a year earlier. The consensus on FactSet was for a non-GAAP loss of $0.71. Revenue declined to $4.93 billion from $5.09 billion, but came in ahead of the Street's view for $4.86 billion.

Steel product sales volume improved to a record 4.3 million net tons in the second quarter from 3.99 million tons the year before. Steelmaking revenue, however, decreased to $4.77 billion from $4.92 billion.

Shares of the company jumped 13% in Monday trade.

"Our second-quarter results demonstrate that the footprint optimization initiatives announced a few months ago are already generating a positive impact on both costs and revenues," Chief Executive Lourenco Goncalves said in a statement. "We also further reduced inventories, which drove a meaningful release in working capital during the quarter."

Cleveland-Cliffs ( CLF ) has started to see the "positive impact" of tariffs on domestic manufacturing, and expects these trends to continue, Goncalves said.

In June, Trump increased tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50% from 25%, as part of efforts to end what the White House called "unfair trade practices and the global dumping" of the two materials.

"The import data that has been published thus far makes it very clear that the 232 tariffs are having a positive impact, not just on steel, but also on the automotive sector," the CEO said during an earnings call on Monday, according to a FactSet transcript. "Both flat rolled steel imports and light vehicle imports hit multi-year lows in April."

Goncalves expects the Trump administration to keep these duties in place, as "there is no indication that the Section 232 tariffs will be used as a bargaining chip by the Trump administration as leverage in trade deals with other countries."

"Domestic steel pricing remains strong, we have visibility into our cost reductions, and our order book remains healthy," Goncalves said in the earnings release.

Price: 10.65, Change: +1.17, Percent Change: +12.29