Service Centers

Reliance Achieves Record Sales and Profit in First Quarter

Written by Laura Miller

April 28, 2022

Strong demand, growing shipment levels, and robust metals pricing allowed Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. to achieve another record quarter with first quarter sales of $4.49 billion and gross profit of $1.39 billion.

Reliance

“Notwithstanding ongoing macroeconomic challenges, our performance was supported by positive underlying trends including continued strong demand with improving shipment levels in each month of the quarter, along with ongoing strength in metals pricing,” CEO Jim Hoffman said on the service center’s earnings call on Thursday.

The company shipped just over 1 million tons of carbon steel products in the first quarter – a 10.5% increase over the fourth quarter but a 1.7% decrease from Q1 2021. Reliance thinks shipment levels will continue to increase through the rest of the year. The average selling price per ton for carbon products was down 2.7% sequentially but 56% higher year-on-year.

Hot rolled sheet and coil sales accounted for 10% of total sales in the first quarter, cold rolled sheet and coil 4%, galvanized sheet and coil 5%, carbon plate 11%, and carbon tubing 11%.

Reliance anticipates continuing strength in overall underlying demand, with non-residential construction demand improving sequentially and showing notable strength in March. Demand for agricultural and construction equipment continues to improve with significant increases in shipments to these sectors. Toll processing demand remains healthy despite supply chain challenges.

Noting significant reshoring of semiconductor fabrication, Reliance has increased its 2022 capex from $350 million to $455 million in order to build a new facility in Texas to service this burgeoning domestic industry.

The merger and acquisition pipeline remains robust, company executives say, with a high volume of potential opportunities. The company has completed 71 acquisitions since going public in 1994.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

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