TimkenSteel today reported second-quarter 2021 net sales of $327.3 million and net income of $54.0 million. In the same quarter last year, net sales were $154.0 million with a net loss of $15.3 million. First-quarter 2021 net sales were $273.6 million with net income of $9.8 million.
In a press release, the company said net sales increased 20 percent compared with the first quarter of 2021, driven primarily by improved industrial demand and higher raw material surcharges. The average raw material surcharge per ton increased 39 percent sequentially as a result of higher scrap and alloy prices. Compared with the prior-year pandemic impacted second quarter, net sales increased 113 percent, largely driven by improved automotive and industrial demand and a 117 percent increase in the average raw material surcharge per ton as a result of higher scrap and alloy prices.
Ship tons of 214,200 increased 11 percent sequentially as a result of higher industrial and energy shipments despite an approximate 16,000 ton decrease related to the semiconductor chip shortage in the automotive market during the quarter, the company said. Compared with the prior-year second quarter, ship tons increased 97 percent with significant increases in both automotive and industrial shipments.
As for an outlook, the company said that given continued strength in end market demand, TimkenSteel expects third quarter ship tons to be similar to second-quarter levels. While the company's order book is full for the remainder of 2021, periodic automotive customer manufacturing outages due to the semiconductor chip shortage may negatively impact third quarter automotive shipments. Additionally, melt utilization is expected to be at or above 85 percent during the third quarter.