Service Centers

Ryerson back in black in fourth quarter

Written by Ethan Bernard

February 22, 2024

Ryerson Holding Corp.

Fourth quarter ended Dec. 3120232022% Change
Revenue$1,112.4$1,288.2-14%
Net earnings (loss)$25.8($24.1)207%
Per diluted share$0.74($0.65)214%
Twelve months ended Dec. 31
Revenue$5,108.7$6,323.6-19%
Net earnings (loss)$145.7
$391.0-63%
Per diluted share$4.10$10.21-60%
(in millions of dollars except per share)

Ryerson swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter, though revenue declined from the same period last year.

The Chicago-based service center group posted net income attributable to Ryerson of $25.8 million in Q4’23 vs. a loss of $24.1 million a year earlier on revenue that slipped 13.6% to $1.11 billion.

“Revenue during the period was influenced by seasonally lower volumes and easing average selling prices, which decreased 5.9% to 450,000 tons and 5.2% to $2,472 per ton, respectively, compared to the third quarter of 2023,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

A breakdown of shipments and average selling prices is shown below.

Tons shipped (in thousands)Q4’23Q3’23Q4’22Q/q changeY/y change
Carbon steel347371365-7%-5%
Aluminum484945-2%7%
Stainless steel525552-6%0%
Average selling prices (per short ton)
Carbon steel$1,657$1,744$1,874-5%-112%
Aluminum$5,021$5,571$5,978-10-16%
Stainless steel$5,212$5,527$6,019-6%-13%

Eddie Lehner, Ryerson’s president and CEO, said, “Fourth-quarter volumes decreased across most of our end-markets due to holiday seasonality and ongoing destocking across nonferrous product lines.”

He added that for full-year 2023, “our end-market volumes mainly increased in our commercial ground transportation and oil and gas end-markets, while decreasing across most other industrial and consumer end-markets.”

Looking to Q1’24, Ryerson said it “expects normal seasonal demand conditions, with customer shipments expected to increase approximately 8% to 10%, quarter over quarter.”

The company said it anticipates Q1 revenue to be “in the range of $1.21 to $1.25 billion, with average selling prices increasing 1-3%.” 

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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