Steel Mills

Processing, Building Produce Record Results for Worthington
Written by David Schollaert
December 16, 2021
Worthington Industries Inc. reported net earnings of $110.3 million for the second quarter of its fiscal 2022 ended Nov. 30 on total sales of $1.2 billion. Revenues for the Columbus, Ohio-based steel processor jumped by 69% or $501.8 million from the same period last year, driven primarily by higher average direct selling prices in its Steel Processing segment and stronger overall volume sales, the company said.
“We had a record second quarter led by strong results from our Steel Processing and Building Products segments,” said Andy Rose, Worthington’s president and CEO. “Steel Processing continued to benefit from inventory holding gains and Building Products saw significant contributions from both ClarkDietrich and WAVE and solid growth in our wholly owned businesses.”
Steel Processing’s net sales totaled $937.8 million in Q2, outpacing the prior quarter by 14.0% and nearly doubling the sales in the comparable year-ago quarter. The increase was driven by higher average selling prices and, to a smaller degree, contributions from the acquisition of the Shiloh business.
Consumer Products’ net sales totaled $140.8 million, up 20% or $23.3 million year on year due in part to the inclusion of General Tools & Instruments, which was acquired in Q3 of fiscal 2021. However, the results were down nearly 5.0% from Q1’s sales of $147.8 million due to higher material and conversion costs.
“While Consumer Products continued to feel the impact of higher input costs, our teams made good progress toward recovering margin as the quarter progressed and we believe we are well positioned heading into the new calendar year,” added Rose.
Building Products’ net sales totaled $121.2 million, up 29.0% or $27.1 million compared with last year’s quarter due to greater volume and higher average selling prices. Net sales for the segment also outperformed the prior quarter’s total of $114.7 million by 5.7%.
Sustainable Energy Solutions’ net sales totaled $33.1 million, up 42.1% or $9.8 million from the prior quarter, but down 3.0% or $0.9 million from the same quarter last year on the combined impact of lower volume and an unfavorable product mix. Both volume and mix in the current quarter were again negatively impacted by the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage, the company said.
“We are optimistic that we will continue to see healthy demand across our key end markets, and we are very excited to have recently closed on our largest acquisition to date with the purchase of Tempel Steel,” Rose said. “The addition of Tempel makes us a global leader in the electrical steel market complementing our existing sustainable mobility offerings in lightweighting and hydrogen and positioning us to more widely serve rapidly growing global markets for electric vehicles and electricity infrastructure.”
Worthington is a steel processor and a producer of laser-welded products. It is also a global supplier of pressure cylinders and accessories for applications such as fuel storage and water systems. Worthington operates 58 facilities in 16 states and nine countries, while employing roughly 9,500 people.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Mills

U.S. Steel sues Algoma over iron pellet shipments
U.S. Steel is suing Algoma over the Canadian flat-rolled producer's rejection of iron pellet shipments, arguing it has breached its contract.

August US mill shipments slip but still higher than last year
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a decline in the monthly shipments of US mills from July to August.

TransPod, Algoma, Supreme Steel linkup anchors Canadian steel in high-speed transit build
The three Canadian companies have announced a strategic partnership to support the development of an ultra-high-speed transit line from Edmonton to Calgary.

Metallus, USW agree to tentative four-year labor deal
Metallus and the United Steelworkers (USW) have agreed to a tentative four-year labor contract.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco resumes cokemaking after emergency maintenance
The Canadian steelmaker reported on Sept. 30 that “urgent maintenance” was needed in its coke plant off-gas systems. The work required coke oven gas from the No. 2 coke plant to be flared for most of that week.