algoma steels shares fell sharply after the steel producer swung to a loss in the latest quarter with a drop in the selling price of steel higher costs from replacing internallyproduced coke with purchased coke and increased costs for key inputs such as metallurgical coke and coal in morning trading the shares were 85 lower at c920 narrowing the yeartodate advance to 78 the canadian producer of hot and cold rolled steel sheet and plate products had a fourthquarter loss of 204 million canadian dollars 155 million or c019 a share compared with a yearearlier profit of c2429 million or c145 analysts polled by factset were expected earnings of c001 a share earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortization on an adjusted basis for the three months to march 31 fell to c479 million from c3344 million ahead of the companys guidance and beating the c278 mean forecast of analysts polled by factset revenue for the quarter was 28 lower at c6774 million but ahead of the c6686 million expected michael garcia chief executive said plate and strip operations returned to normal production levels during the quarter and algoma expects to continue this momentum into fiscal 2024 the company said it is targeting steel shipments of between 550000 and 560000 tons in first quarter of the fiscal year after shipments in the recentlyended quarter rose to 571647 tons from 547217 a year earlier