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SunCoke Energy heats metallurgical coal in ovens to make coke, used mainly in blast furnaces to produce steel. Coke sales provide most of its revenue. Most production is committed under long-term contracts: SunCoke must supply agreed volumes, while customers must take the coke or pay the contract price. Cliffs Steel, part of Cleveland-Cliffs, supplies most of the company's revenue; U.S. Steel is another major customer. Coke outside these contracts is sold at market prices.
Contract prices include coal and operating costs plus a fixed per-ton fee. Cost pass-through provisions limit exposure to coal prices, but earnings still depend on producing contracted volumes, using coal efficiently and keeping costs within contractual limits. Customer payment matters too: Algoma Steel refused further deliveries and breached its contract, and SunCoke is seeking recovery. Its ovens cannot simply be idled when demand disappears. Operations also require environmental permits, and some industrial services depend on permits held by steel-mill customers.
Its smaller Industrial Services business handles and processes scrap and slag at steel mills for fixed fees and charges tied to production volumes. It also loads, unloads and mixes customers' bulk materials at terminals, earning per-ton fees without owning the materials. This business depends on customer production and the volume of materials handled.
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Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Beyond this list, watch U.S. Steel, which supplied 14.2% of SunCoke’s 2025 revenue, alongside production efficiency and renewals of contracts that largely pass coal costs to customers and require payment even when coke is not taken.
SunCoke depends heavily on Cleveland-Cliffs: its Cliffs Steel subsidiaries buy coke for steelmaking and supplied 61.6% of SunCoke’s 2025 revenue. Cleveland-Cliffs sells steel and finished steel products; watch its coke-purchase commitments under contracts requiring payment even when it does not take delivery.
Algoma Steel Group Inc.’s refusal to accept further contracted coke deliveries in 2025 directly hurt SunCoke’s revenue and earnings. The sheet-and-plate steel producer sells to automotive, construction and other industries; watch SunCoke’s efforts to enforce Algoma’s contract and recover its losses.
ArcelorMittal’s Brazil business pays SunCoke to operate the Vitória coke plant, with annual capacity of 1.7 million tons, and to license its technology. ArcelorMittal sells steel to automotive, construction and other customers; its required coke production in Brazil sets SunCoke’s licensing fees and per-ton operating fees, while full operating costs are passed through.
Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. and SunCoke share steelmaking demand more through volumes than coal-price margins: Alpha sells metallurgical coal to steel and coke producers, while SunCoke turns that coal into coke for blast furnaces. Watch Alpha’s metallurgical-coal sales volumes rather than treating higher coal prices as a SunCoke profit boost, since some SunCoke contracts pass coal costs through when agreed production yields are met.
Ramaco Resources, Inc. reaches the same steelmaking and foundry markets as SunCoke by selling metallurgical coal to steel mills and coke plants, while SunCoke sells the coke made from that coal. Ramaco’s sales to North American steel mills and foundry cokemakers offer a read on demand in markets served by SunCoke’s coke.
Warrior Met Coal, Inc. shares SunCoke’s exposure to blast-furnace steel demand, selling hard coking coal for coke blends to steel-industry manufacturers while SunCoke makes the finished coke. Watch Warrior’s steelmaking-coal volumes separately from its selling prices: some SunCoke contracts pass coal costs to customers when agreed production yields are met, so their profits need not move together.
Core Natural Resources, Inc. and SunCoke share exposure to steel production and coal-export demand: Core sells metallurgical and thermal coal to industrial users and power producers and runs export terminals, while SunCoke makes coke and handles customers’ coal. Core’s export coal volumes offer a read on demand affecting SunCoke’s Convent Marine Terminal, beyond its coke business.
Ramaco Resources, Inc. earningsMETC
Ramaco Resources' report will show whether North American steel mills and foundry cokemakers are buying more metallurgical coal, a demand signal for markets SunCoke serves.
Look at Ramaco's metallurgical-coal sales volumes to North American steel mills and foundry cokemakers. Higher volumes would point to stronger coal demand from buyers in markets SunCoke serves; lower volumes would point to softer demand. Coal is an input to coke, however, so Ramaco's sales do not establish that SunCoke's coke sales or profit moved the same way.
SUNCOKE ENERGY INC earningsThis company
SunCoke Energy's report will show whether its domestic coke business is turning contracted sales into better operating results or whether customer disruptions and costs are still weighing on it.
Read domestic coke sales and capacity utilization alongside Adjusted EBITDA per ton sold, the company's measure of segment performance. Rising sales and utilization with a stronger per-ton figure would show more coke moving and better returns on each ton; weakening figures would show that contract arrangements are not fully offsetting customer disruption or cost pressure. Cost pass-through terms and actual costs can also affect the per-ton figure, so the results show how the business performed but do not by themselves identify the cause.
Algoma Steel Group Inc. earningsASTL
Algoma Steel Group's report can show how its steel production and shipments are faring, a direct customer-demand signal for SunCoke.
Look at Algoma's reported steel production and shipments. Stronger figures would suggest more activity at this steelmaker and potentially firmer coke demand; weaker figures would mean less demand support from this customer. Those figures do not establish whether Algoma will resume taking contracted coke or whether SunCoke will recover its losses; they show how much the customer's operating activity may support demand.
Core Natural Resources, Inc. earningsCNR
Core Natural Resources' report will show whether coal-export activity is changing in markets relevant to SunCoke's Convent Marine Terminal.
Look at Core's coal export volumes, separating metallurgical coal from thermal coal if the report does so. Higher volumes would indicate more activity in export markets that may provide business for SunCoke's Convent Marine Terminal; lower volumes would indicate less. Core's exports are not the terminal's throughput, so the conclusion is whether the market signal could support SunCoke's terminal business, not whether its volumes necessarily changed.
ArcelorMittal earningsMT
ArcelorMittal's report can show how steelmaking in Brazil is faring, the business backdrop for SunCoke's operating and licensing fees at the Vitória coke plant.
Look for ArcelorMittal's reported steelmaking activity in Brazil and, if disclosed, required production at the Vitória coke plant. Firmer Brazilian steel activity would better support demand for plant production and, in turn, SunCoke's per-ton operating fees and licensing fees; weaker activity would mean less support. Operating costs are passed through under the contract, so required production—not the amount of costs passed through—is the key signal for these fees.
Industrial Production MoM (Oct)
Industrial production tracks factory, mine and utility activity; for SunCoke, it signals whether steel customers may make more coke under long-term contracts and generate throughput for its on-site scrap and slag services, while affecting demand for uncontracted coke.
If activity is stronger than the prior reading, steel customers may produce more, supporting SunCoke’s on-site service volumes and non-contracted coke demand; if weaker, those volumes and demand may ease, while contracted minimum coke volumes provide some support.
