Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Speaker 9

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. At this time, we would like to welcome everyone to CSN's conference call to present results for the first quarter 2025. Joining us today are the company's executive officers. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded, and all participants will be in listen-only mode during the company presentation. After the remarks, there will be a Q&A session when further instructions will be provided. You can access this webcast through the site csn.com.br/ir where the presentation is also available. There will be a replay service for this call on the website. Before proceeding, we would like to state that some of the forward-looking statements made herein are mere expectations or trends based on current assumptions and opinions of the company management. Future results, performance, and events may differ materially from those expressed herein as they do not constitute projections.

In fact, actual results, performance, or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of several factors: general and economic conditions in Brazil and other countries, interest rate and exchange rate levels, protectionist measures in the U.S., Brazil, and other countries, changes in laws and regulations, and general competitive factors at global, regional, or national basis. We would like to turn the floor over to Mr. Rabello, the CFO and IRO, who will present the highlights for CSN for the period. You may proceed, Mr. Rabello.

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Good morning, everybody. It's a pleasure to speak about CSN results for the first quarter 2025. We begin on slide II, showing you the main highlights of a quarter where once again we showed great resiliency, attaining an annual volume growth in all of the sectors.

We show you the sound dynamism of the market and the operational evolution and efficiency of our operations. This commercial activity, with an improvement in prices, especially in steel, led to an increase of 28% in EBITDA this quarter, profitability 2.7% higher than the first quarter last year. The EBITDA improvement is important for deleveraging. We substitute the weaker results we obtained last year and move towards our guidance. We also take advantage of the record cash we presented to pay part of the debt of the company, reducing the net debt by BRL 3.6 billion. We got to the first quarter of 2025 with a leverage of 3.33x. Now, besides this advance, this quarter we had a project finance for CEEE-G that limits our position to financial risks. As all companies do, we can remove this from our leverage calculations.

Our leverage goes to 3.27x for the first quarter of 2025. In mining, we had a drier period in the southeast of the region, allowing for greater cargoes. We had record sales for the period in the company for that period of the year. Another relevant highlight was the strong annual drop of the tier 1 cost, reaching $21 per ton compared to $23.6 vis-à-vis the same period last year. Because of efficiency and cost controls, these are the figures we have attained this quarter. This operational improvement led to an EBITDA 26% higher than the first quarter 2024, reaching BRL 1.4 billion with a margin of 41%. In steel, another very strong quarter in terms of steel consumption in the domestic market. CSN took advantage of this dynamism, attaining sales 8% above the first quarter 2024.

Now, more important than the sound commercial activity was the increase of 2.4% of prices during the period. There was an adjustment for flat steel at the beginning of the year, which was difficult because of the greater competition in the longs market. The stable cost of plates allowed CSN to more than double EBITDA in the quarter. Of course, this is the right size to deliver the results in steel. We go on to cement. Despite the pressure of interest rates and economy, the company is resilient with new launches. We were able to beat up sales by 6.2% at the beginning of the year. As we had a lower price because of the seasonality of the year and very strong competition, the annual growth of revenue was at 2.1%, and the EBITDA margin reached 22% with the costs verified during the period.

Now we are sure that the seasonality in the second quarter will help us to attain the margins we historically had in the company. Finally, we end the highlights with excellent news for logistics and energy. In logistics, an improvement in the higher shipments by rail mode leading to a 16% growth vis-à-vis the fourth quarter 2024. In energy in the south and southeast region, we raised our EBITDA by more than 101% vis-à-vis the last quarter, and in the annual comparison with 172%. We go on to the next slide to present the EBITDA and EBITDA margin results for the first quarter. The drop in the results in the fourth quarter exclusively reflects a natural seasonality of business with negative effects of less commercial activity and the rainfall period.

Despite all of this, in the annual comparison, we have a strong growth of 28% in the period EBITDA with 300 base points higher, reflecting the growth of commercial activity that we saw throughout, an increase of prices in steel, and of course, better prices attained. On slide number IV, we will share with you our investments for the period. You can see very strong seasonality vis-à-vis the previous period with less use of CapEx. We tend to concentrate our investments in the second half of the year. On the other hand, when we compare this with the first quarter of 2024, there is a strong growth in the P15 expansion project after the infrastructure work and disbursements due to maintenance of blast furnace two and general modernization of the UPV operation. In 2025, most of the investments will be in efficiency and expansion.

We now go on to slide number five to speak about networking capital. There was a reduction because of accounts receivable because of the seasonality, less commercial activity, followed by a lower volume of inventories and suppliers. On the following slide, we present to you our adjusted cash flow that was negative by BRL 173 million, a figure significantly better than the BRL 1.7 billion of the fourth quarter 2024. Despite the strong EBITDA we presented, adjusted cash flow is being pressured by high financial expenses and positive cash generation. This is the impact that the higher interest rates have in Brazil and on investments in the country. In the next slide, we show you our indebtedness and leverage and the behavior of our debt throughout the quarter.

To the left, the main message is a strong reduction in leverage presented in this quarter, with the indicator going from 3.49 times at the end of 2024 to the present-day level of 3.33x. Now, there was a great deal of effort to reduce net debt by BRL 3.6 billion, and we used part of our cash to pay our debt. Now, everything we presented in the previous slides also contributed to this performance. We're committed in reducing the levels of indebtedness in the company, and we make strides in projects to speed up this agenda. I have already mentioned this, the structuring of a finance project for CEEE-G that will limit our exposure to financial risks. So cash and EBITDA, if we exclude CEEE-G from leverage, the calculation therefore will stand at 3.33x. Now, we bring about liquidity for the consolidated figures by doing this.

We're also evolving in our infrastructure projects that are very material for our deleveraging journey, besides other benefits. Now, we have natural deleveraging ahead of us as we advance in our operational enhancement process. We have better results this year. In this first quarter, we were able to comply with our goals, and we are confident that no matter how difficult the macroeconomic environment, we do have space to continue evolving. To the right, you see that the net debt has not undergone considerable differences. We now go on to slide number eight, and you can see that we're in a comfortable position in terms of our long-term position with sufficient cash to comply with our obligations in the next three years. We are working actively in lengthening our amortization level.

Among the main movements this quarter, we had the third debenture issuance for CEEE-G in BRL 1.2 billion for a total term of 70 years. We also refinanced some bilateral agreements with a lengthening of up to three years, with a reduction of 5.6% for the year 2025. With this, we conclude the consolidated results and now go on to analyze each segment. On slide number X, you see the sales volume for steel. Even with a negative seasonality that is characteristic of the beginning of the year, the domestic market is still very hot. We have a difference of 5.3% vis-à-vis the first quarter 2024. We had an increase of 5.3% in sales in the period, showing how assertive our commercial strategy is. Results are ever more important when we consider the pressure and the unloyal competition from imported products that are truly challenging local producers.

When we look at the following slide of steel production, the drop in the quarter-on-quarter and annual production is due to the maintenance of blast furnace two. It did not have an impact on the cost of plate produced or the performance per ton. To the right on the slide, we can see that the situation remained stable in the period, and performance per ton is almost double of what we saw in the first quarter of 2024. Once again, this highlights the efficiency of the company after the efforts to enhance the operation of steel. We go on to the financial performance for steel on slide number XII. We see an evolution in EBITDA, revenues, and prices, with better prices being practiced since the end of 2023.

This is due to the sound demand of the Brazilian market, and there were price adjustments in January contributing to EBITDA recovery for the quarter. We attained more than double of the EBITDA presented in the same period last year, and this is the right path to deliver even more sound results throughout 2025. We now go on to speak about mining. On slide number XIV, we have the results of production and sales. We have an annual growth of almost 12% in production and 5.4% higher in terms of sales volume. Now, this performance was possible thanks to a drier period observed and an increase of efficiency in the operation, with a higher movement of cargo and logistics. This is the highest volume of sales, a new record for the company for the period.

This reflects a lower volume of purchases for the period, while sales were impacted by seasonality. Regarding the financial performance on slide XV, the first highlight is the annual growth of 21.6% in net revenues, reflecting an operational improvement and a more devalued exchange rate. Price stability existed during the period. These prices are quite high, offering the segment sound results, and the greater volume of sales with stable prices and lower volumes led to a growth of 26% in EBITDA with a 41% margin. In the following slide, we have adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. The combination of marginally higher prices with lower freight costs and the improvement in the mix was offset by the seasonality in the period, with lower volumes and higher purchasing costs. Let's now analyze cement on slide XVIII with a sales volume.

Once again, we continue to see a sound demand in the Brazilian market, despite the high interest rate for the My House, My Home program, helping us to sell more cement. We were able to take advantage of our logistic network to capture new margins, and the 6% growth in sales volume shows that this was the right strategy. Now, when we compare this with the previous quarter, we had a drop of only 1.4% in a period that is seasonally weaker, with rainfall and vacations at the beginning of the year. In the following slide, the financial performance for the segment, the seasonality of the period, you see the performance of net revenue, and the growth of 21.9% shows the dynamic of lower prices, and this reflects the competitive environment and a lower fixed cost dilution and higher raw material costs.

The second quarter onwards will be a good lever to improve the results, similar to the levels we had last year, and of course, there will be an impact on the company's cash flow. Finally, I would now like to go on to the logistics segment on slide 21, where we have the main financial indicators. Now, railroads had a higher movement of shipments and broke with a negative seasonality for the period. We had evolution in billing and allowing the EBITDA to reach 46.1% margin. With this, I end the presentations on the segment, and I invite Helena Guerra to present the highlights for ESG performance.

Helena Guerra (ESG)

[Foreign Language]

Good morning, everybody. Let's be, while we begin 2025, very enthusiastically and with a certainty that we're ready for another year of consistent advance in our ESG journey. We are consolidating our health and safety front.

We have reduced the accident rate, and we want to reduce the occurrence of events that have the potential for fatality. This quarter, we had a reduction of 23% when compared to the same period in 2024. We began the year maintaining our performance in decarbonization, and the strategy is focused on projects that increase our operational efficiency, reduce costs, and reduce our CO₂ emissions. This is a conviction, as I said in the previous call, that the quest for a more diverse company is also associated with that quest in efficiency. We doubled the number of women one year before, reaching almost 27% of our labor force in the CSN Group. Compared with the same quarter last year, we have 350 women more as part of our goal, an increase of 75% in female representation since we set forth the goal in 2020. We had the fourth meeting of ESG ambassadors this quarter. The focus was to train our personnel in terms of climate risks and security risks.

The goal was to speak about risk control in the company to capture opportunities and synergies and create action plans to mitigate the risks and create a reporting system according to international standards to be able to disclose financial information and others relating to climate and security. Finally, we joined efforts. We are preparing our integrated report that was published in April 2025. We have two reports in truth for CSN and CSN Mineração. We have details on our practice management sustainability. Very well, that is my presentation. We are just beginning the year. We want this year to have more security, sustainability, innovation, and we hope to be able to share our achievements. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Helena. I will now turn the floor over to our CEO, Mr. Benjamin Steinbruch.

Benjamin Steinbruch (CEO)

[Foreign Language]

I would like to greet everybody, have a very good day, and I thank you for your attendance at the CSN call. I would like to mention some factors here that were very positive for the changes that we have implemented in the company as of the last quarter of 2024. We have shown you concrete results. You can observe that in the four business segments, we are doing much better in terms of mining, production, and sales in steel. We have also improved the production and delivery. Despite the maintenance we carried out in blast furnace two in cement, notwithstanding the rainy period, we also had a very good behavior with an increase in production and in an increase in sales volume. In logistics and energy, which are minor businesses, we also saw a very positive performance in terms of their results.

In the steel segment, we have a steel price that is constantly improving despite the fact that we have an extremely difficult market because of the imports. This situation is quite absurd despite the efforts we have deployed in terms of dialogue with the government and despite the government efforts based on our conversations. Although they understand the situation and would like to help, despite this, imported steel volumes continue to grow month after month, making competition practically impossible because of the subsidized prices without any effective limitation to amounts. We're deploying all possible efforts to diversify products, to diversify our sales, diversify the type of clients so that we can sell our production in the best way possible. This is a very destructive and penalizing system, the imports without control that we see in steel. In truth, nobody can survive this.

There is no country that will be able to survive an attack, a speculative and subsidized attack on any product, and we are suffering from this severely. We have disorganized imports that end up being lethal instruments in any country. We understand the position of the government to negotiate with other countries. We support that stance, but it is taking too long to have effective measures for the control of the entry of imported products. We are doing what we can do. We are working based on cost. We are working on the productivity of our equipment. Also, with the maintenance we carried out in the blast furnace two, we would like to decrease the impact through an enhancement in productivity and use of our equipment because of our product diversification. CSN is the best and the largest steel company in Brazil in terms of diversification and quality of products.

This is a secret that we hold to be able to produce more, to produce better. The price increases with the specific quality of each product are a fact. We're working arduously in terms of added value and diversification so as to escape this problem of imports. There is no country where we can export to at this point in time. Everything has been blocked because of the new tariffs and rates that all countries have set forth. This is something that we harp on very much. Brazil is a country that is lagging behind in terms of protective measures against this disorganized imports. We hope that what is being done in steel will present results. We had an EBITDA that we had not expected in the market, but it's the result of what we are doing, working arduously, reducing costs and adding value to our production.

All of this will go head-on against this unloyal competition. Now, for the first time, we are able to show you better results in our steel plant. In terms of mining, we had very good results. They were presented. We increased our own production. We reduced third-party purchases, and we were able to ship record amounts with a highly controlled cost. Our range is BRL 21.5-BRL 23. We performed well with a cost of $21 per ton, and we can also decrease the cost of freight. This signals something positive in terms of production volume and cost. We look carefully at China. China belongs to the Chinese, but based on what they are showing, based on what they are saying in terms of the recovery of the Chinese economy, all of this will begin with civil construction and infrastructure.

Their inventories are low, and we believe, therefore, that their steel market also behaved above what was expected. The price is at BRL 110. The price remained more at the level of BRL 100. We are performing as expected, perhaps somewhat better than the market expected when it comes to price. In the case of Cement, although the first quarter is a very rainy period, we had a very good production. The prices are resilient still. We worked with almost half of the price of cement vis-à-vis the United States as a reference, $60 here and $120 in the U.S.A We are being competitive because we have a very tight market in that sense. Our commitment and what we are doing, notwithstanding all the difficulties in this insane financial market of Brazil, where it is impossible to attain good results.

Companies that want to grow, companies that want to invest, are not allowed to do so because of the rather inexplicable situation that hampers the business environment, an environment that would be expected for a country like Brazil. If we do not rapidly resolve this distortion that is impacting costs and favoring only one sector, which is the financial sector, we will see the destruction of all other segments because it is impossible to work with real interest rates at the level at which they are. We hope there will be a rapid intervention from the government to put in order the distortion of the interest rate. There will be difficulties in terms of investment and difficulty in the continuity of operations, and this will lead to unemployment. We are concerned with the continuity of this very high level of interest rates impacting the world of production and economy.

Despite this, we were able to attain good PE leverage, 3.44-3.33x. If we consider the operation of CE AAA, once again, this leverage will be reduced to 3.27x. We are on survival mode because working with those high interest rates is impossible. If we consider what we pay for in terms of taxes, plus the depreciation of our business, and no margins will make investments possible, and the investments are necessary for the purchase of equipment and to, of course, focus on ESG. We also depend on new equipment. Of course, we all have to work in that direction. CSN has made incredible efforts. It has also presented good results. Seasonally, the first quarter tends to be weaker. Despite this, we had an EBITDA of BRL 2.5 billion.

I think this is a demonstration of the effort, the determination, and the will of all of our associates to survive this perverse moment and to survive at any cost throughout the year 2025. This is what I wanted to share with you. Thank you very much. Let us now open the floor for questions and answers.

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. We will now go on to the Q&A session. For investors and analysts, should you have a question, please click on the raise hand icon or send your question in writing through the Q&A icon. The first question comes from Danielle Sasson from Itaú BBA. Your microphone has been activated.

Daniel Sasson (Head of Latam Steel & Mining)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, everybody. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. My first question is for Marco about leverage.

We saw your net debt falling this quarter, and you are confident that you will reach a leverage below three at the end of the year. Marco, if you could explain to us a lever with which you would be comfortable looking at 2026, 2027, where there will be an acceleration in terms of your CapEx to get to 65 million tons of production, perhaps this will help us to model the evolution of your leverage. My second question for Martinez, Benjamin just referred to the difficult environment because of this unloyal Chinese imports. This was like a bucket of cold water from the government. Although they accepted the anti-dumping request, they did not implement countermeasures.

If you could speak about the competitive scenario at present, in light of the lack of change in the government's stance for the short term, what will this translate into when it comes to prices in the domestic market? Thank you very much.

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Daniel. Thank you for your question. Obviously, we have changed the guidance for 2026-2027, but our outlook, yes, we do manage CapEx in the company in a very assertive, critical way, focusing on projects that are truly important for the company transformation, notably for steel and mining. We spoke of other important projects for steel so that steel can once again recover its standing. These are projects that we have to implement throughout the year, being very cautious in terms of our investments because of the interest rates mentioned in the release and by the company CEO.

We have to focus on projects with better returns and the best funding lines to support the company deleveraging. Of course, continuing to focus on the important projects. When I look to 2026-2027, without a guidance for EBITDA, cash positioning or cash generation is much higher than it was in 2024. So the CapEx for the year, the interest rate for the year, and the payment of income tax derail us a bit from our cash flow. An important project that we should recall is the infrastructure project that we referred to on CSN Day and at the last call. Now, this project will be transformational in terms of the leverage of the company. It's not the only benefit of the project. There are other important benefits, but it will represent a change.

At the end of the year, we should have this project impacting the figures of the company for formal guidance to have leverage below three times. Do not count on that number. It has not been considered as part of our figures. It is difficult for me to tell you which will be the leverage at the end of 2026, 2027, or which would be a comfortable level because of the operational levels we would like to attain. What I can say very calmly is for the guidance to be below three times. We would not work with infrastructure, and in the next two years, we should always be below three times. The more we get closer to lower numbers, although this may impact our investment grade, it does not depend only on the company. It depends on the country. We are going to do this.

This is a company project, of course, and our strategy is to deleverage to the lowest levels possible. Besides the infrastructure and projects in the steel segment, we will have other significant leaps in 2027. P15 coming into operation with another 15 million tons of high-grade material, and the Transnordestina that will enter fully into operation. Without giving you precise figures, I hope to have given you a good view of what we expect in 2026 and 2027.

Daniel Sasson (Head of Latam Steel & Mining)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Marco.

Luis Fernando Barbosa Martinez (Executive Director)

[Foreign Language]

Thanks again for the question, Daniel. As always, I would like to share with you what is happening and how we are looking as we go forward. Something important that Benjamin mentioned simply to underscore this: in the first quarter of 2025, and the report says that it was a small fall.

In the first quarter, if you look at this carefully, we grew the price of long steel by 3.2%. It is the only steel mill in Brazil, the only one in Brazil that was able to capture a price increase. We also had to give a discount of -5% in long steel because of the stronger competition in that market. Now, if you imagine the business environment, imports, which in the case of CSN reference to 40% in zinc product, 30% in tin plate, and 20% in painted steel, I think we did very well. We increased diversification. Now, this pillar, we have a relatively strong demand in the last quarter of 2024, in the first quarter, despite the high interest rate and the record of imported material that reaches 27%.

Besides the Trump effect, we're doing our homework in terms of cost of operation, and we're trying to be actors in the market commercially. In the first quarter, the price operating with a single blast furnace led us to have a stable slab price, and the margin is nothing to neglect. It's an 8% margin, $75 per ton. Within that scenario that was mentioned here, I think we're doing quite well. When we speak about China, and I'm being practical, I'm speaking about imported material. I'm not going to repeat what we know. What is happening in China is very simple. There is no civil construction. The other sectors are doing relatively well, but they have a level of exports of BRL 90-BRL 100 million. There's nothing to do there.

What is worse and what people have not perceived is that the largest importing countries from China are Vietnam, Korea, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil in the sixth place. We are speaking of the following here. Vietnam buys 1,200,000 tons for the first quarter of this year. What is going to happen here? What can happen? This is the great fear of the Trump government, a circumvention. In a short while, you could be importing something from Korea and Vietnam, but the source will be China. This is an enormous problem, something that needs to be discussed in the negotiation with the U.S.A. In terms of imports, this is my belief, the government, and I have never been to Brasília so much as in the last three months. Myself, Benjamin, we have been extremely vocal with the government in terms of what they need to do.

Now, the government loves the process, but we do not see results. This is the truth. It is almost irresponsible, an import penetration of 27%, to think that imported material has a higher market share than CSN. I have never seen this in the 23 years I am in the company. Daniel, I underscore this, and I am going to add my voice to other colleagues, to other plants. This is an unsustainable situation. It has consequences, and we can't imagine that we are not going to end up in a bad spot because of what is happening. When we speak about the domestic market, what is happening? Demand grew in the first quarter, approximately 7% in flat steel. I am referring to apparent consumption. Internal sales grew 1%, and at CSN, we had a minor drop.

We focused on the mix, which is not ideal yet, and we decided to increase price by 3%-3.2%. This is a strategy we will have in the second quarter. When you have operational excellence, you operate with blast furnace three, you buy less coke, you reduce purchases from third parties, you buy slab perhaps not coming from China, and reinforce your own production. This is a strategy that we will repeat in the second quarter. Everything that Benjamin said, imagining our cost will drop below BRL 3,500. When you go to the market, the market is somewhat different in the first quarter. We see markets with assembly plants doing very well. There is a certain resumption in some markets, but markets that were more stationary, like agricultural machines and machinery, they will maintain the growth of the domestic market this year, which is not bad.

The last point to speak about trade defense still, another interesting point. This is not operating at all because we at CSN think that we could follow the rules of the World Trade Organization and work with anti-dumping instead of simply working with sanctions. We had anti-dumping for zinc and tin plates, and we got to levels of 5%-40%, and nothing was done and nothing will be done. The government is not going to do anything temporary. For long periods of time, nothing will happen. What is also happening now, Daniel, is that the government will have to renew that quota system that had good intentions. It was in the right direction, but it had no intensity for implementation. The quota simply legitimated the imports carried out in 2023 and 2024.

The government will now announce the new quota system, and I have the hope that the government will apply 25% for a period, giving us breathing space so that we can act better in the market. This is the business scenario, and what you should understand, as Benjamin mentioned, there are no exports nowadays. You can't export anything. In the U.S., above and beyond the 25%, there's a countervailing duty that we're discussing. We're working with the people of the Department of Commerce at CSN. There is no way out for galvanized products. The great opportunity we see in the American market, and we're going to make the most of it, is the fact that there are no quotas in tin plate. We're working strongly at the plant in tin plate to compete in the American market that only has a tariff of 25% for the time being.

I believe that Brazil, with their could do what the United Kingdom was able to achieve yesterday, to end up with a 10% tariff only. From the viewpoint of international trade, the United Kingdom will be able to sell in the U.S. with tin plate and other products. Do forgive me for going on, but to give you an idea, this market has not come to a standstill. We have communicating vessels in terms of what is happening in the United States, what is not happening in China, and could leverage imports in Brazil, not only from China, but from other countries that have nowhere to run to and will begin to export to Brazil.

Daniel Sasson (Head of Latam Steel & Mining)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you for the details, Martinez.

Our next question comes from Tatiana Pasquini from J.P. Morgan. Your microphone has been activated.

Tatiana Pasquini (Analyst)

[Foreign Language]

Good afternoon. I hope you're well. Thank you for taking my question.

I think you thoroughly explained the situation of steel, and most of these points have become very clear. My last question, if we look at margin, as you mentioned, the macroeconomy is highly complicated, but you have been able to maintain comfortable margin levels. How should we think about the rest of the year? We have a high interest rate, high import levels. Which is the evolution of margins in the coming quarters? What could become a normalized margin to understand 2025 and maybe 2026? My last question of follow-up on leverage. We have seen deleveraging as the main focus of the company. You're doing a great deal on that front. You worked with a project finance, as you explained here. Are there further opportunities like this project finance going forward? Do you have other projects that could also help you in terms of deleveraging? Thank you.

Luis Fernando Barbosa Martinez (Executive Director)

[Foreign Language]

Good morning. This is Martinez. What you say is interesting. I do not remember, but I think it was in your report that you said that our EBITDA result in steel was 6.8, 6.5, above the forecast of J.P. Morgan. Really, we live in a completely disorganized world, and Brazil has become a backyard not only for China, but for other countries who will eventually agree on this circumvention or triangular imports. From the viewpoint of margins, to go to the point, what is positive for CSN? First of all, we are working with scheming. We are cleaning out our product portfolio that is quite diversified. I am looking at products that give me a higher margin, that have an operational excellence, working with an equation to maximize the blast furnace three that is a bottleneck at present.

This is important data as the blast furnace two is undergoing maintenance, and I'm dosing purchases with the purchase of slabs. Now, these 3,500 tons we had in slab will have a drop, of course. I can't tell you how much, but it will be quite steep in the second and third quarters in terms of costs. From the price viewpoint, if we can maintain what we did in the first quarter, we ended up with a 3.2% price increase. That would be very positive. We don't have much control over these variables in the market. The market, I think, is being naive, thinking that steel has elasticity and can improve demand. Demand is good. It's not the price that will resolve this. We're going to hold back prices to the utmost so as not to lose profitability.

Our margin will follow along those lines with relatively stable prices, perhaps higher in the second quarter and costs going downhill. Tatiana, to speak about projects such as CE AAA, yes, we do have other projects we have been discussing since the second half of 2024. There are two in steel, one in mining. We have a coke battery, a station 500, and in mining, a project called V4. We have been serving and structuring these projects in the project finance modality. Of course, we need more time. These are project structures that cannot be replicated, and we have to build things specifically for each project, and this takes time. We want to close these operations in the year 2025. The impact on company deleveraging, besides CCC, will be longer.

These are greenfields that will be implemented, and cash generation and all benefits from the project will give strength to the company's deleveraging. This is what we have added in our capital structure and as part of the tools for financing in the company as being important for deleveraging and important investments for the company. Thank you.

The next question is from Mr. Marcelo Arazi from BTG Pactual. Marcelo, your microphone has been activated.

Marcelo Arazi (Equity Research Associate Director)

[Foreign Language]

Two questions at our end. Recently, we read news on the possible renovation of capacity in China. They speak about 50 million tons, which is the visibility you have of this topic, and could this help the industry eventually in the midterm? A second question to speak about cement. You mentioned that you expect a margin improvement going forward. Where will this improvement come from? Through price? Will demand improve? These are our two questions.

Luis Fernando Barbosa Martinez (Executive Director)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. Hello, Marcelo. Good morning. An interesting question indeed. I believe that yesterday or two days ago, and I hope that this is true. I hope it's not a lie. The Chinese government is looking per province to see which would be their production cuts to be able to equalize everything because equalization is a matter of profitability. 50% of the Chinese plants have a certain level of profitability. Those that do have profitability, the profitability would not even pay the cost of your expenses of investing in maintenance or equipment upgrade. This, I'm referring to facts, to data, and something that is well known. Another point, and this brings me quite a bit of hope, a cut in commodities, anything that will modify the status quo of the market by 2% or 3%.

These are minor variations that will change the world if China reduces the production by 50 million tons, and I heard somewhat more than that per province. The environment would be very interesting for us in terms of the possibility of recovering margins, but it's a variable we have no control over. All we control is our cost and our commercial strategy, as Benjamin mentioned. I never saw such a large spread of BQ from the U.S.A. to China, $445-$1,023, $1,025, a spread that never existed before. In the negotiations of the American government with the countries and with the U.K., I see that the American government is very careful with Japan and Korea. The coming week, they will have a meeting with China itself in Europe to speak about this.

If all of this becomes aligned, it could help us and create a different dynamic in the domestic market. What I'm rooting for in the domestic market is for demand to continue. If the demand is 15 million-15.5 million a year, this is interesting for Brazil. The second question referring to Cement, important information. CSN has worked a great deal on cement, on all its pillars. In cement, of course, we have a stronger strategy to occupy space, obviously, and our volumes have grown consistently more than the growth of the Snic. Now, what happened in price? And I'm very calm with this. Last month, our price increased 3% approximately. Price began to drop at the end of last year in November and December, a bit in January, but we recovered this in February and March. What can we expect for cement?

I do not believe there will be a slowdown in Minha Casa, Minha Vida levels two and three. Quite the contrary. The builders we work with that have portfolios in that market are doing very well. Builders that have a higher standard, some are suffering, those that have a larger building inventory. I do not think demand is a problem. I think everything is doing well. Now, what could be an upside that still is not? We speak about this a great deal. It is a matter of infrastructure that could help in a bet here. Although CSN also works in other large projects such as a subway or other engineering works. From the viewpoint of cost, I am going to give the floor to Eddie Valdo, who will complement what I am saying. We are quite sure of this strategy.

We have worked arduously on logistics, maximizing our furnace to reduce the interfaces we had with the acquisition of Lafarge. The system is certain in terms of its connectivity with the market. CSN has an umbilical relationship with the construction market. We are a one-stop shop. We sell cut and fold, sand, cement, and everything else. This is a strong commercial pillar complemented by the operational service that Ubaldo will comment on for cement.

Ubaldo Marques Silva Filho (Chief Procurement Officer)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Martinez. Thank you, Marcelo, for the question. When it comes to costs and operational management, as Marco presented, we had a drop in margin in the first quarter. We are calm about this because the first quarter is always more difficult. Everything tends to be slower. Notwithstanding this, there was an increase in volume, a significant increase vis-à-vis the first quarter of 2024.

This is a good sign, as Martinez mentioned, that we will have sound volume going forward in terms of cost. We have pressure, momentary pressure because of the price of fuel and raw material. This holds true for the entire industry through the costs. That is something we have in the company's D&A. We observe the increases. The vision here is that we will be able, we will be able to continue on with cost increases, although they are momentary or due to the situation. We will be able to recover prices, as Martinez mentioned. We see cement going strong with a positive trend in the future. Our goal is to overcome a 30% EBITDA margin. This is what we are seeking. This should happen in the coming months.

Marcelo Arazi (Equity Research Associate Director)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you. That was very clear.

Our next question comes from Matheus Moreira from Bradesco BBI. Your microphone has been activated.

Matheus Moreira (Equity Research Associate)

[Foreign Language]

Good afternoon. Thank you for taking our questions. The first question for steel. Martinez, your comments on the market were extremely clear. Now, you have a strong upper demand, consumption, and penetration of imported material. Will continue strong in the coming months. I understand that your comment is to have relatively stable prices at CSN in this coming quarter. Does this mean that you're willing to make concessions in terms of volume and for the steel plant in terms of imported material? You don't expect great changes in terms of dumping because of the technical opinions. Now, in terms of the tariffs that have proven to be ineffective, this begins at the end of May. Will you be able to renew this system in any way?

Luis Fernando Barbosa Martinez (Executive Director)

[Foreign Language]

Matheus, your question once again refers to another point that I would like to comment on. We have not mentioned it. Look at what is happening, imports, the Chinese imports coming to Brazil. Besides being unloyal, we have to be careful. If you look at the quota system, it bases itself on some NCNs, and they set forth a quota. Now, the people in China are using a product in steel, moving away from a code. Now, for steel that has the wrong code, that is not special steel, in the first quarter, the growth was of approximately 60% for you to have an idea until April of 2025. Coming from China with that code, we had BRL 400,000 without paying tariffs. How many went through? BRL 100,000. Besides the quota, there is a foul play that is happening that would also deserve a penalty by the competent organs.

Because of the specifications, the products get to Brazil with it is an illegal shortcut carried out for imports to get to Brazil regarding the continuity of imports. To be very clear, Matheus, I still have the hope that we're going to learn more. And because of pain, we will learn a little more. I hope that the government will renew the quotas with higher rates and with rates that will enable us to at least limit imports to 10%, 12%, or 15%. That would be an interesting level because the government has a distorted fear, an incorrect fear that this will produce inflation in Brazil. This is untrue. That is not a danger that will materialize. The government needs to be more responsible, more diligent, and adopt these measures for trade protection.

In the other case that you mentioned regarding the price scenario, my portfolio at present, and as we saw in steel, we have 50%-52% of coated goods. We still have room to grow there. We do not have enormous space, although there is a reallocation or equalization of tariffs. I can improve the portfolio more. What I think is possible is that in the third and fourth quarters, we will work with export levels of tin plate to the United States. That is more interesting. This would add value to our portfolio. From the viewpoint of products, do not forget we have production units in Portugal and Germany that are undergoing better moments in Germany because of the energy. The issue of energy has been equalized. The margins are more decent in Germany and Portugal. We are going through a positive situation. The market is very closed.

CSN has a good share in the Iberian Peninsula. In the United States, despite the competition, we made the most of the first quarter to increase exports. We're sending more material to the U.S. to harvest the results in the second and third quarters, a premeditated strategy to enhance our margins. From the viewpoint of prices, the scenario of Brazil, I think we could be more cautious with price. I'm being more cautious because we're operating with a blast furnace. We're not going to focus on market share. Quite the contrary. I'm going to focus more on profitability. Unfortunately, we see a war in the market, and it's very difficult to get away from this because we can't even be reasonable in terms of price. We're going to work with our mission, operational excellence, cost, commercial strategy, and maximize margins to levels above 15%. Thank you.

Matheus Moreira (Equity Research Associate)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you very much, Martinez.

Our next question comes from Guilherme Nippes from XP. Your microphone has been activated.

Guilherme Nippes (Equity Research)

[Foreign Language]

Good morning, everybody. Thank you for taking our questions. We have two questions. The first, a more general question regarding capital allocation. You have several projects in the portfolio, one for mining, the renovation of the blast furnace. Now, thinking of the discussion on tariffs and the dynamic of interest rates in Brazil, can all of this change your mindset regarding capital allocation? And how much of that CapEx could you transfer from 2025 to future years? That is the first question. The second question for the steel segment, if you could give us more details on the maintenance of blast furnace two that happened in January. What is happening with the renovation? Is there a time to conclude on CapEx and mix and volume for 2025?

I believe the strategy will be to continue to acquire slabs from third parties with a drop in the second half of the year. Thank you.

Luis Fernando Barbosa Martinez (Executive Director)

[Foreign Language]

Guilherme, thank you for the question. Regarding capital allocation, you're right. We have an exercise when it comes to investments and capital allocation, given what I mentioned at the beginning of the call, higher financing rates for the year of 2025, something that began in the year 2023. Because of this, we have been very assertive, very critical in the allocation of capital in each project. We have mentioned this in other calls. This is a large exercise not to have a CapEx in 2025 higher than that of 2024, eliminating some projects, therefore, in the specific case of steel, because you mentioned the tariffs that could impact our capital allocation.

We're focused on projects in steel, continuing on with the centering, streamlining at UPV, aimed to increasing the efficiency of the process. These are activities we carried out in 2024, in the fourth quarter of 2024, and in the first quarter of this year. We're on the right path. They're not expanding capacity, but they're improving efficiency. Improving efficiency is something we like. It increases profitability, cash generation. In terms of mining, the same holds true. P15 is a very relevant project. We're at an important status. We can't take our foot off the pedal now in 2025. We're going to deliver it in 2027. Because of the transformation, it will bring the company not only in volumes, but in iron ore quality. It will be a high-grade iron ore. We have carried out exercises. We have a well-controlled CapEx.

Once again, it is a daily exercise, something recurrent at our institution because of the scenario, depending on the government's stance in terms of anti-dumping. Somebody mentioned that there is a review in May. We are going to continue to see if something else can be adjusted. CapEx is something we have more significant control over, but we cannot lose sight of the projects that bring profitability to the company. Guilherme, once again, thank you for the question. An important point in the steel mine, what is a first quarter cost steel plant? The steel plant that buys coke, it is not doing well. It is not under control. It is something stoichiometric. What happened with CSN through time? We began to have a higher cost because we had to buy more coke and increase the amount of pellets. This did not do well.

That's okay when you have a strong demand. You can continue to operate. What is happening now, and I can state this on behalf of Benjamin, is that it was very difficult to make that decision. Why? Because we never stopped anything here. We always accelerated in the pandemic. When everybody stopped, we accelerated. With the rupture of Lehman Brothers, we also accelerated. It was the first time in the 24 years I am here that we stopped the blast furnace two. There was no logic operating the furnace and buying pellets and coke. What are we doing now? A very ascertained decision. We're going to work with our maximum operational excellence on blast furnace three, minimizing the volumes of coke and pellets. Blast furnace three is a gem and is running very well. Regarding blast furnace two, we're carrying out all of the maintenance that should be done.

Nobody stops a blast furnace for two months. Everything went by very quickly. We stopped the blast furnace in January, and the intention was to keep it down for six months, respecting what is happening in the government, respecting the government's responsibility in terms of competitive isonomy. This is fundamental in that period of two or three months. We can put the blast furnace back to work, but it has to come back to work with a more favorable market condition. In the meantime, we will modulate our shipments with purchases outside and perhaps another product that does not come from China.

Guilherme Nippes (Equity Research)

[Foreign Language]

That was very clear. Thank you very much.

The next question comes from Caio Ribeiro from Bank of America. Your microphone has been activated.

Caio Ribeiro (Managing Director)

[Foreign Language]

Good afternoon. Thank you for taking the question. I have only one question. Most of my questions have been answered.

Benjamin, at the beginning of the call, spoke about the momentary difficulties, the increased rate of uncertainty, the tariffs of the U.S., China, problems with imports. If we put that together with the pressure on cash generation, how does this environment impact your payment of dividends and buyback in mining? That is our question. Thank you very much.

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you, Caio, for the question. What is important to mention, and we mentioned this in other calls, Benjamin mentioned this, is our commitment with the improvement of leverage and company improvement. At the beginning of the year, we said we would not pay out dividends in May, as usual, because of that commitment to maintain margins and liquidity in the company and to continue deleveraging. Now, in other quarters, everything will depend on the operational results we deliver, on the deleveraging and the market moment, of course.

There is no clear decision for each period, how we will act, how the board will approve the future payout of dividends. Now, the decisions this quarter were strong, and this has a direct link with our results and our preservation of cash before we pay out dividends. Payout of dividends is one of the social functions of the company, and the company has had a great deal of constancy in this because of its shareholders. That is your first question. The second?

Caio Ribeiro (Managing Director)

[Foreign Language]

No, that was only one question, Marco. Simply to clarify, are you referring to mining or CSN?

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Tatiana Pasquini (Analyst)

This is referring to CSN and CSN Mineração. We have had significant profit in the last few years. CSN is a company with reduced debt. It has more cash than indebtedness with exposure to the dollar.

Because of its capital structure, it makes sense to relevantly pay out dividends as it did last year. This year, we announced a payout of BRL 1,300 million in equity and dividends that we will disburse until the end of the year. New payouts will depend on the evolution of the flat price and the Siemens projects. Siemens has important projects. We spoke about P15, V4, and the disbursement for these projects will continue to be increased in the coming months because of the delivery of the project in 2027. With the increase of leverage of mining, these dividends will reach new levels, as is normal in each company, until these new projects once again robustly generate cash like the P15, and then we will have dividends that are adequate to the level of leverage of the company. This year, we have one distribution.

We have not defined a second distribution for mining. I hope to have answered your question.

Caio Ribeiro (Managing Director)

[Foreign Language]

Yes, my question was geared to Siemin. Thank you very much, Marco.

Our next question comes from Emerson Vieira from Goldman Sachs. Your microphone has been activated.

Emerson Vieira (Analyst)

[Foreign Language]

Hello, everybody. Have a good day. Thank you for taking my question. A first question referring to leverage and the trajectory of cash generation. It is very clear that we go forward with a resilient demand and stable prices and reduction of costs, which will have an impact on EBITDA. On the other hand, we have a lack of visibility when it comes to cash generation. There are more components impacting that variable. How do you think about cash generation in the coming quarters? If this would also contribute to a deleverage and a growth of EBITDA.

The second question, which is your feeling about demand for steel, looking at your main client, the month of April, where you have a better visibility, for example? Of course, if things were somewhat weaker in the first quarter because of seasonality and if there has been a resumption.

Antonio Marco Campos Rabello (CFO)

[Foreign Language]

Thank you for the question, Emerson. To respond to the first part, yes. For the year, in terms of financial and taxation obligations and CapEx for the year, and considering our projections, we do not have a guidance for this, but we do have a cash generation that begins now in the second quarter of the year, is more thriving in the third and fourth quarters of the year because of an improvement of all segments and seasonality. This will make feasible a natural deleveraging because of company results.

Below three times leverage means without including strategic projects and CSN infrastructure. This would be a natural result of the company. Now, this quarter now, we were on a borderline, although we had a very high level of CapEx. This was very different for the first quarter of the year, different from other quarters. We were at minus BRL 173 million in cash flow. Financial expenditures did not help us, as they're not helping any industry investing in the country. We hope to see improvements in those two pillars we have in cash going forward. We hope to have a positive balance and a more positive cash flow in the third and fourth quarters. Emerson, have a good day and thank you for the question. Regarding the demand, last year, we were at BRL 15,000,500 in the first quarter. Demand grew 7%, which is a very good figure.

If we, not demand, but apparent consumption grew 7%. It's a very interesting figure. The problem is that domestic sales only grew 1% once again in the second quarter, and it's a given demand will continue to be interesting. Obviously, there are sectors that are seasonal, where we had more expressive volumes like white line, Mother's Day. We've already captured all of that. This sector is still very sensitive to interest rates with real interest rates of 10%. It's impossible to think of a growth. There are other segments that were more typical that had had a resumption. Agricultural implements compared to the third quarter of 2024 had an enormous leap despite the slowdown in the agricultural market. Last year, everything is back full steam, and the example is AgriShow. We have material with a strong consumption of steel, 10%-12%.

Civil Construction, we demand a great deal from Civil Construction. It's not doing poorly. What exists is an imbalance of the supply and demand equation. In an irresponsible way, this leads to a price reduction. Discontinued prices, even in the packaging sector where we participate, we have seen that the fact that the government announced a provisional anti-dumping for tin plates, we have had an increase in consumption and reduction of exports. I believe that in the second quarter, we will have growing demand still, and perhaps in the second half of the year, something more stable to grow 6-7% a year. With a strong figure for apparent consumption, we have to make this apparent consumption turn into internal or domestic sales. Thank you.

Our next question comes from Nicolas from Jefferies. Your microphone has been activated. Nicolas, you may proceed. Your microphone has been activated.

[Foreign Language]

Good afternoon. Can you hear me? Yes, yes, we can. Thank you very much for the call. You spoke a great deal about deleveraging in the coming years. Obviously, in the market at present, you're working with very high deals. The figures for 2028 will be very high. Could you give us more color in terms of how the market is, which is your strategy for the coming years?

[Foreign Language]

Thank you very much for the question, Nicolas. Our treasury team has had a focus on anticipating liability management, doing as much as they can. Between the last call and this one, we were able in the first month of the year to reduce it by 66%, anticipating refinancing, lengthening, and the repurchase of debt. Until 2028, we have a bond of almost $4 billion. This is something we're looking at very fondly.

It's still not feasible to carry out that operation. We would like to remind you, please click on raise hand. If your question is in writing, use a Q&A icon. Please wait. Please hold while we pull for questions. As we have no further questions, I will return the floor to Mr. Marco Rabello, Executive Director, for closing remarks.

[Foreign Language]

I would like to thank everybody from CSN that have contributed to these excellent results. We thus end the first call for 2025. We would like to wish you a very good weekend. Thank you. The CSN conference call ends here. We would like to thank all of you for your attendance. Have a very good afternoon.