Steel Mills
Ryerson Foresees Weaker Business Conditions in Q3
Written by Laura Miller
August 3, 2022
Ryerson expects “counter-cyclical business conditions” in the third quarter, with moderating demand and falling prices resulting in lower sequential sales and shipments.
The Chicago-based service center made the comments in its second quarter earnings report after the market closed on Wednesday, August 3.
For Q2, sales volumes of 524,000 tons were down 6% from the previous quarter. Lower volumes were shipped to the HVAC, food processing, and machinery and agricultural sectors. Volumes increased to the oil and gas, commercial ground transportation, and metal fabrication and machine shop markets. Carbon steel shipments were 408,000 tons—0.7% higher than Q1 but 4.7% below Q2 2021—with average selling prices 4% lower quarter-on-quarter but 25% higher year-on-year.
“Driven by faster and sharper-than-anticipated price declines in nickel, aluminum and carbon steel indices during the quarter, we experienced mid-quarter margin compression as spot-replacement cost of inventory fell faster than average-cost of inventory amidst decelerating increases in average selling prices,” the company stated.
Q2 revenues of $1.74 billion were just below Q1’s record $1.75 billion but showed year-on-year growth of 23%. Net income of $196.4 million was up 20% from Q1.
Revenues in Q3 are expected to be between $1.45 billion and $1.55 billion, with average selling prices down 5-8% sequentially, and shipments falling 4–6%.
By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest 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.