Lower flat steel prices send US Steel's earnings plummeting

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 02:28:05 (GMT+2)

After swinging a profit in the previous two quarters, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based United States Steel Corporation (US Steel) reported a $226 million net loss in Q4 2011. In Q4 2010, US Steel incurred a $249 million net loss.

Lower average realized prices and shipments created by the uncertain economic outlook and increased domestic supply, which perpetuated cautious purchasing patterns early in Q4 resulted in a flat rolled loss from operations of $24/net ton compared to income per tons of $53/net ton in Q3. US Steel's flat rolled operations in North America recorded an $89 million operating loss in Q4 as prices fell by approximately $32/per ton from Q3.

In Q4, steel plants in the US operated at an approximately 90 percent rate of capacity and US Steel President and CEO John Surma said that with the exception of US Steel Hamilton in Ontario, "we're running everything as hard as we can...we are planning to run everything we have except for Hamilton."

Surma also commented that "activity in every significant flat rolled segment we participate in is improving," led by automotive; industrial equipment and tin mill products are also poised for modest growth.

US Steel has been struggling with profitability in Europe as well, and confirmed Monday that it has sold its Serbian steel mill for a nominal $1 back to the Serbian government. US Steel still has operations in Slovakia, but during the question-and-answer portion of the conference call conceded that while profitability in Slovakia "is a really good objective...it's a stretch."

As for the full year 2011, US Steel reported a narrowed loss of $68 million from $482 million in 2010.

 previous article  /  next article