Stelco Holdings Inc.

year to expand our already impressive industry leading margins by increasing utilization of our downstream value added capacity at the Hamilton Works in a way that enhances and diversifies the product mix and also increases our profit margins even further. While we continue to explore all options to grow our business, whether through organic growth or creative M&A opportunities, we remain patient and disciplined. Our interest is in creating value for our shareholders. While we invest in all our assets, we will pursue those potential opportunities that have both attractive valuations and significant synergies. Thank you for your time this morning. I'll now ask Paul Scherzer to detail some of our financial results.

Thanks, Alan, and good morning, everyone. The first quarter of 2024 was demonstrative of the true strength of our business and our ability to take advantage of opportunities in the market. While we did see an increase in revenue of 22% over the previous quarter that was largely driven by a comparable increase in our average selling price, our industry leading low cost structure and our relentless focus on cost controls saw us drive that revenue through to the bottom line. The 200% increase to adjusted EBITDA and the 187% increase to adjusted EBITDA per net ton are representative of our capability to convert these market opportunities into value for shareholders. These results are in line with the guidance we provided last quarter, guidance that we were able to provide because of the confidence we have in our tactical flexibility business model and in our management team's ability to seize upon market opportunities. These results, once again, have allowed us to deploy capital in a manner that benefits our shareholders through the payment of our recently increased ordinary dividend and the repurchase of approximately 162,000 shares under our normal course issuer bid. We have also preserved optionality for the future deployment of capital by being conservative in our approach to liquidity. For the second quarter in a row, we ended the period with $645 million in cash and with no borrowings on our revolving credit facilities. As noted by Alan, this flexibility will afford Stelco the opportunity to pursue both organic and accretive growth opportunities as they emerge without risk of compromising our commitment to our shareholders. While these metrics certainly paint a picture of our success during the first quarter of 2024, we also see optimism for the period ahead. In Q1, we realized an increase in shipping volume of 4% for a total of 636,000 net tons. For the second quarter, we anticipate shipping volume to be in the range of 625,000 to 650,000 net tons. We believe this relative stability in the market will afford our business the opportunity to leverage our relentless focus on cost and continue our strong record of generating cash from operations. This, of course, is central to our commitment to shareholders as we strive to generate value within our business and create opportunities to deploy capital in a responsible and strategic manner. Through the second quarter, we will continue to pursue measures that reduce our operating costs while maintaining a clean balance sheet. These principles have created a foundation of our business that has returned substantial benefits to all of our stakeholders, and we will not deviate from our commitments. Overall, the first quarter was a positive start to our year, and we are optimistic about our ability to continue building upon our success throughout 2024. Thank you for taking the time today to join our call.

Thank you to Alan and Paul. That concludes our prepared remarks for today. I would now like to turn the call back over to the operator for questions and answers. Operator.