TimkenSteel today reported fourth-quarter net sales of $341.4 million, compared with net sales of $214.7 million in the same quarter last year and $339.1 million in the third quarter of 2017. The company reported a net loss of $34.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, compared with a net loss of $67.0 million in the same quarter last year, and net loss of $5.9 million in the third quarter of 2017.
For the full year 2017, net sales were $1.3 billion and net loss was $44.3 million. This compares with net sales of $869.5 million and a net loss of $105.5 million for full-year 2016. In a press release, the company said the improvement over the prior year was driven primarily by recovering energy and industrial end-market demand, new business and favorable raw material spread.
Tons shipped in Q4 totaled approximately 286,000, an increase of 48.0 percent over the fourth quarter of 2016 and a decline of 1.4 percent sequentially, due to seasonality. The company said gains over the prior year were related primarily to market recovery and sales initiatives, including winning new business supplying billets to tube makers.
Melt utilization was 68 percent for Q4, compared with 50 percent in fourth-quarter 2016 and 74 percent in third-quarter 2017. The company said higher volumes, primarily from new business, improved melt utilization for the year and leveraged manufacturing costs.
As for a Q1 2018 outlook, the company said shipments are expected to be between 3 percent and 6 percent higher than fourth-quarter 2017 due to first-quarter seasonality. Earnings are projected to be between a net loss of $3 million and net income of $7 million.