Ryerson leans into Olympic merger as demand shows early green shoots

Ryerson Holding Corp. posted a loss in the fourth quarter and full-year 2025. But the Chicago-based service center group struck an optimistic tone as it began integrating Olympic Steel and is seeing early signs of a manufacturing rebound.

Executives said rising mill prices, firmer carbon steel fundamentals, and stronger quoting activity are already improving conditions.

“It is always better to close a merger with improving industry fundamentals,” CEO Eddie Lehner said. He pointed to early-year strength in quoting and order activity that marks “the best demand start to a year since 2022.”

Merger integration

Ryerson is moving quickly to integrate Olympic Steel following the companies’ Feb. 13 merger. The deal created North America’s second-largest service center network with roughly 160 locations. Lehner called it a “quantum leap forward when it comes to growth.”

The CEO opened an earnings call on Friday by welcoming Olympic’s leadership and employees, noting the combined company enters 2026 “with significantly greater scale and expanded product and service offerings.”

Ryerson expects $120 million in annual run-rate synergies over the next two years, driven by procurement scale, network optimization, and commercial alignment. “We have established an experienced integration team… and we are highly confident in our ability to deliver on the aforementioned synergies,” Lehner said.

Supply, demand, pricing dynamics

Ryerson’s fourth quarter was marked by a sharp rise in mill input costs – particularly carbon steel – that outpaced the company’s ability to pass through increases before year-end.

“Material costs rose faster than anticipated… and the quarter expired before we were able to fully price those increases into the market,” CFO Jim Claussen explained.

Carbon steel pricing began to firm late in 2025. Lehner described carbon as “like a sticky ride… and now, finally, we’ve got some momentum upward,” adding that the move has been gradual rather than spiky, which he views as constructive.

Ryerson reported uneven demand continued across end markets. Fabrication, welding, machine shops, and general industrial sectors posted year-over-year (y/y) growth. At the same time, commercial transportation, HVAC, and heavy equipment lagged. OEM demand was especially weak, contributing to a 6.8% sequential decline in North American shipments.

Still, early 2026 indicators are strong. Ryerson expects same-store shipments to rise 13-15% in Q1’26 as restocking and improved manufacturing activity lift volumes.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the increase in business activity… It’s the best we’ve seen in a really long, long time,” Lehner remarked.

“We saw a good start to the year in terms of both volumes and pricing,” Ryerson President and COO Rick Marabito added.

Results

Despite the optimism, Ryerson remained in the red in the fourth quarter and for the year.

Although sales of over $1.1 billion were up 9.7% y/y, the company’s net loss widened from $4.3 million a year earlier to $37.9 million in Q4’25.

For the full year, Ryerson’s sales dropped 0.6% to $4.57 billion. Its net loss widened to $56.4 million from $8.6 million in 2024. Shipments of carbon steel rose 0.4% y/y to 1,522,000 short tons in 2025. Aluminum shipments were flat at 185,000 st, while stainless shipments increased 1.6% to 234,000 st.

The company ended the year with $436 million in net debt, down from the prior quarter. It also extended and expanded its revolving credit facility from $1.3 billion to $1.8 billion, providing additional flexibility for integration and future growth.

“The amendment and extension… provide us with continued financial stability… and the flexibility to pursue growth opportunities such as those enabled by the recent Olympic Steel merger,” said Claussen.

Management stressed that deleveraging remains the near-term priority. “Job one” is getting after the $120 million in synergies and deleveraging, Lehner said on the call.

Market outlook

Ryerson sees early signs of a manufacturing upturn after two years of contraction. PMI and industrial production are finally moving in the same direction, executives said, and both companies’ recent capital investments – greenfields, expansions, and processing upgrades – are beginning to generate operating leverage.

Marabito described the combined start to 2026 as a “sprinting start,” highlighting that customers are already asking what the merged company can take on. “We’ve already gotten a number of calls as to what we can do collectively to help them grow their business,” he noted.

Lehner closed the call’s prepared remarks with characteristic bluntness about the company’s integration goals: “Ain’t nothing to it but to do it.”