Steel Mills

SDI Earnings Guidance Lower Than Expected

December 19, 2013

Steel Dynamics issued its fourth quarter 2013 guidance on Tuesday reporting earnings in the range of $0.21 to $0.25 per diluted share, below analyst estimates ranging from $0.26 to $0.31. SDI announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share.

Earnings are expected to be comparable to those of third quarter. Higher steel pricing is anticipated to be offset by reduced overall steel shipments and a lowered long product metal spread affected by decreased product pricing combined with higher scrap costs.

Steel Dynamics expects losses of 8.5 million for its Minnesota Operations in the fourth quarter. Plant production and performance are improving, says SDI, but further reductions in operating costs are still necessary.

SDI says activity is improving in the housing construction market with stronger demand for painted and Galvalume sheet products. The auto and manufacturing markets continue to show strength and the outlook is improving for nonresidential construction. Construction related steel demand for structural steel and fabricated joist and decking products is gradually improving. Order inquiries are picking up at the fabricated operations supporting an optimistic view for construction.

Metals recycling results are expected to show improvement over the previous quarter with seasonal decreases in ferrous shipments more than offset by improved ferrous metal margins.