USS Swings to Q1 Profit on High Prices, Big River Contribution

“Our optimism in the strength of our business is clearly confirmed in our first-quarter performance,” U.S. Steel President and CEO David Burritt said in a statement released with earnings data.

All the company’s business units posted solid year-over-year improvement.

U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled segment recorded $146 million in earnings before interest and income taxes (EBIT) in the first quarter of this year after losing $35 million in the same quarter last year.

It’s European division – its steel mill in Košice, Slovakia – posted EBIT of $105 million in the first quarter of 2021 after losing $14 million in the year-ago quarter.

And the company’s tubular segment narrowed its EBIT loss to $29 million in the first quarter of 2021 from an EBIT loss of $48 million in the same quarter of 2020.

U.S. Steel closed the deal for its remaining stake in Big River Steel on Jan. 15. And the EAF steelmaker was fast out of the gate. It posted EBIT of $132 million in the first quarter.

Big River Steel also averaged higher selling prices than the rest of U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled division.

U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled division recorded average selling prices of $888 per ton in the first quarter of 2021, up 24.9% from $711 per ton in the first quarter of last year. Big River posted average selling prices of $967 per ton.

The company in addition saw steel shipments increase to 3.91 million tons in the first quarter of 2021, up 11.7% from 3.50 million tons in the same quarter of last year.

But while overall shipments were up, U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled segment, excluding Big River Steel, shipped fewer tons than last year.

U.S. Steel’s flat-rolled division shipped 2.33 million tons in the first quarter of this year, down 7.2% from 2.51 million tons in the first quarter of 2020.

By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com