On Thursday, Toronto, Ontario-based metals service center Russel Metals Inc. announced that in Q2 2012, earnings totaled $23 million on revenues of $719 million, compared to earnings of $31 million in Q2 2011.
Revenues in the metals service center segment increased 11 percent to $432 million in Q2 compared to 2011 on stronger demand levels. Gross margins, however, were 20.4 percent compared to 23.7 percent in Q2 2011 as inventory holding gains experienced last year were not repeated.
In the energy tubular products segment for Q2 2012, revenues increased 32 percent to $192 million compared to Q2 2011 as a result of large line pipe orders in US operations and strong demand in operations servicing the Alberta oil sands.
In the steel distribution segment, revenues increased 11 percent in the Q2 2012 quarter to $92 million compared to the 2011 second quarter. Gross margins in this segment were down to 13.9 percent compared to the 18.8 percent experienced in the 2011 second quarter.