Steelmaker CSN Cuts Its Loss to $109 Million as Cheap Chinese Steel Floods Brazil

3 Key Points

—Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSNA3), the group behind Brazil’s historic Volta Redonda steelworks, cut its quarterly net loss 24.2% to R$555 million ($109M) — its third straight year in the red at the annual level — as adjusted EBITDA of R$2.6 billion ($510M) and a 23.9% margin showed the mining arm carrying what steel cannot.

—The steel division is the casualty of a global war: with Chinese exports flooding Brazil, CSN’s steel volumes fell 2.5% and the segment’s EBITDA margin collapsed to 7.0% (R$393 million on R$5.6 billion of revenue), while iron ore mining — the asset Chinese demand pays for — kept the group alive.

—Everything hangs on the balance sheet: net debt of R$40.5 billion ($7.9B) against equity of R$12.8 billion and a leverage ratio of 3.36x EBITDA make CSN the most indebted major steelmaker in the Americas — the stock, at R$5.10 and 0.54x book, is effectively a leveraged option on steel tariffs, Chinese stimulus and asset sales.

CSN Loss: What Happened

01What Happened

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (B3: CSNA3) is Brazilian industrial history listed on an exchange: founded by the state in 1941 to build the Volta Redonda mill that launched the country’s industrialization, privatized in the 1990s, and controlled since by Benjamin Steinbruch’s Vicunha group (insiders hold about 55%). Today it is really four businesses — flat steel, iron ore mining (via CSN Mineração), cement, and logistics — welded to one heavy balance sheet.

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The latest reported quarter, published in May, showed a net loss of R$555 million ($109M), an improvement of 24.2% on the R$732 million lost a year earlier, per ADVFN. Revenue reached R$10.6 billion ($2.1B) with adjusted EBITDA of R$2.6 billion ($510M) — a 23.9% margin that looks respectable until you see how it splits between divisions. The market’s verdict was harsh anyway: the stock fell after the report on cash burn and debt, per Seu Dinheiro.

Company Intelligence · Market Data

Ticker / listingCSNA3 · B3

Share price (Jul 17)R$5.10 (−2.7%)

Market capR$6.8 bn ($1.3B)

52-week rangeR$4.49 – R$11.32

Trailing P/En/a (loss-making)

Price / book0.54x

EV / EBITDA6.9x

Wall Street target (consensus)R$8.07

EPS (TTM)−R$1.51

Insider (Vicunha) holding~55%

Beta1.34

Source: EODHD market data, July 17, 2026.

A beta of 1.34 — the highest of any company in this earnings series — is the market saying what CSN is: the most leveraged, most volatile way to trade the Brazil-China industrial cycle on the B3.

Company Intelligence · Company Profile

CompanyCompanhia Siderúrgica Nacional

Sector / industryBasic Materials · Steel

Founded1941 (privatized 1990s)

HeadquartersSão Paulo, Brazil

Employees~29,000

CEO / ChairmanBenjamin Steinbruch

CFOAntonio Marco Campos Rabello

BusinessesSteel · Iron ore · Cement · Logistics

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 17, 2026.

Key Drivers Behind the CSN Loss

02Key Drivers

China gives and China takes. CSN’s mining arm sells iron ore into Chinese demand — that business is fine.

But China’s own steel glut is being exported to Brazil at prices local mills call dumping, and CSN’s steel division is bleeding for it: volumes down 2.5%, segment revenue of R$5.6 billion ($1.1B), and an EBITDA margin of just 7.0% — against roughly 30%+ in mining. The same ship that carries CSN’s ore to Qingdao comes back, in effect, loaded with the steel that undercuts Volta Redonda.

Management’s counterplay is deleveraging by subtraction: asset sales, a possible minority stake sale in the cement business, and squeezing working capital. Leverage ticked down to 3.36x EBITDA from 3.48x — progress measured in basis points against a R$40 billion problem.

Live Company IntelligenceCompanhia Siderurgica Nacional ADR — the full investor dossierInside: live share price, market cap, three-year financials, valuation, ESG and peer benchmarks — plus the latest Rio Times coverage.

Rio Times · Live Ticker Intelligence

Companhia Siderurgica Nacional ADR

CSN · Latin American market listingBasic MaterialsSteel

Share price · live

$1.00

▼ -2.91% today

Market cap

$1.3 bn

1.3 bn shares

P / E

—

EPS -0.29

Dividend yield

—

The company

Employees

29,000

Headquarters

São Paulo

Listed since

1997

Website

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated steel producer in Brazil and internationally. It operates through five segments: Steel Industry, Mining, Logistics, Energy, and Cement. The Steel Segment offers produce and sells of flat and long steel. The Mining Segment engages in…

Financial performance · FY · BRL

RevenueNet income

2023

R$45.4 bn

−R$318.2 mn

2024

R$43.7 bn

−R$2.6 bn

2025

R$43.9 bn

−R$2.0 bn

Net income declined to R$-2.0 bn in 2025, from R$-318.2 mn in 2023.

Valuation & returns

EBITDA margin

16.7%

Net margin

-4.5%

Return on equity

-8.3%

Price / book

0.55

Enterprise value

$8.7 bn

Revenue growth · YoY

-2.8%

Latest earnings

Q1 2026 — reported EPS -0.09 vs 0.24 expected

Missed −138%

Peers & comparators

IBOV

▼ -1.24%

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Data: EODHD Fundamentals & live feed · The Rio Times Ticker Intelligence

CSN Financial Detail

03Financial Detail

Metric

1T25

1T26

Chg

Net result

−R$732 mn (−$143M)

−R$555 mn (−$109M)

+24.2% (smaller loss)

Revenue

—

R$10.6 bn ($2.1B)

—

Adjusted EBITDA

—

R$2.6 bn ($510M)

margin 23.9%

Steel segment revenue

—

R$5.6 bn ($1.1B)

volumes −2.5%

Steel segment EBITDA

—

R$393 mn ($77M)

margin 7.0%

Net debt / EBITDA

3.48x

3.36x

−12 bps

Five-Year Track Record

Fiscal year

Revenue

EBITDA

Net income

2021

R$47.9 bn ($9.4B)

R$23.2 bn ($4.5B)

R$12.3 bn ($2.4B)

2022

R$44.4 bn ($8.7B)

R$10.3 bn ($2.0B)

R$1.6 bn ($314M)

2023

R$45.4 bn ($8.9B)

R$8.6 bn ($1.7B)

−R$318 mn (−$62M)

2024

R$43.7 bn ($8.6B)

R$7.7 bn ($1.5B)

−R$2.6 bn (−$510M)

2025

R$44.8 bn ($8.8B)

R$8.9 bn ($1.7B)

−R$2.0 bn (−$392M)

The table is the whole story: revenue flat for five years around R$45 billion while profit went from R$12.3 billion — the commodity-supercycle jackpot of 2021 — to three consecutive annual losses. Same assets, same tonnage; what changed is the price of steel and the cost of carrying the debt.

Earnings vs. Estimates

Quarter

EPS actual

EPS estimate

Surprise

Q1 2026

−R$0.42

R$0.20

big miss

Q4 2025

−R$0.81

−R$0.20

big miss

Q3 2025

R$0.06

R$0.35

−82.9%

Q2 2025

−R$0.13

−R$0.23

smaller loss than exp.

Q1 2025

−R$0.55

R$0.02

big miss

Four large misses in five quarters: the sell side keeps modeling a turnaround the steel market keeps canceling. Treat any consensus number on this stock — including the R$8.07 target — with corresponding humility.

Balance Sheet Snapshot

Company Intelligence · Balance Sheet (Mar 31, 2026)

Total debtR$51.5 bn ($10.1B)

Cash & equivalentsR$12.8 bn ($2.5B)

Net debtR$40.5 bn ($7.9B)

Shareholders’ equityR$12.8 bn ($2.5B)

Net debt / EBITDA3.36x

Return on equity (TTM)−8.3%

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 17, 2026.

Management Signals

04Management Signals

Benjamin Steinbruch has run CSN through every crisis since privatization, and the current playbook is his classic: hold the assets, sell minority slices when the price is right, lobby hard for import protection, and wait for the cycle. The explicit emphasis on deleveraging and asset sales in the results release is the message to creditors; the unchanged dividend-less reality is the message to shareholders. Patience is mandatory equipment.

What to Watch Next

05What to Watch Next

Trade defense: Brasília’s pending decisions on steel import tariffs and quotas are worth more to CSN than any quarter — every percentage point of protection flows straight to the 7% steel margin. Asset sales: a cement or mining stake sale at a good multiple would repair the leverage math overnight. Iron ore prices: the group’s cash engine. 2T26 in August: whether the loss keeps narrowing. China stimulus: the only force that fixes both of CSN’s problems at once.

Risks

06Risks

Leverage is the existential one: 3.36x EBITDA with three straight annual losses leaves little room for a bad year in iron ore. If Chinese steel keeps arriving and Brasília’s protection disappoints, the steel division’s margin has no floor in sight. Refinancing costs stay punishing while the Selic is high. And the controlling shareholder’s conglomerate structure has historically traded at a governance discount the market shows no hurry to forgive.

Steel Sector Context

07Sector Context

Brazil’s steel industry is fighting the same war as Europe’s and America’s — against Chinese overcapacity — but with thinner armor: tariffs are lower, and the currency often helps the importer. That is why Usiminas’ profit doubling this week (on cost cuts and mining) and CSN’s narrowing loss read as the same story: Brazilian steelmakers surviving on everything except steel.

For investors, CSNA3 at 0.54x book is the deepest-value, highest-risk expression of a bet that either Brasília protects its mills or Beijing stops flooding them.

This report is part of The Rio Times’ Company Intelligence coverage of B3-listed companies. It is journalism, not investment advice.