Ryerson Reports 2020 Loss, But is Bullish on 2021

Executives at Ryerson, the nation’s second largest service center company, remain optimistic about their prospects for 2021, even after reporting a net loss of $65.8 million on revenues of $3.47 billion in 2020. The company saw a 23% drop in sales last year due to the pandemic. Revenues improved by 2.6% in the fourth quarter to $853 million driven by record-high metal prices and recovering demand fundamentals, but not nearly enough to make up for declines of around 24% in Q2 and Q3.

Despite ongoing pandemic-related uncertainties, Ryerson is hopeful based on its strong start to this year. The company expects Q1 2021 revenues of $1.08 billion to $1.10 billion, assuming sequential average selling price growth of 13-15% and an average shipping growth of 11-13%.

Ryerson

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

David Schollaert

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