Newly released quarterly reports from steel companies continue to display the bleak operating conditions for North American steelmakers. The new financial figures from two scrap-consuming steel mill operators show losses rather than profits.
Birmingham Steel Corp., Birmingham, Ala., has reported a net loss of $10.9 million for the quarter ending March 31, the third quarter in the company’s current fiscal year. For the year, the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker has reported a net loss from continuing operations of $35 million.
The company has now reported several consecutive quarterly losses. “Business conditions in the U.S. steel industry remained difficult throughout the third quarter,” says Birmingham Steel CEO John Correnti. “However, there are recent indications that steel selling prices may have bottomed. Also, rebar shipments rose in March, which signals the usual start of the construction season.”
Nonetheless, the company also cites continuing “price pressures, higher energy costs and increased manufacturing costs associated with reduced production levels” as factors affecting financial performance. The company has also run into difficulties in its attempt to sell its Memphis melt shop and its Cleveland special bar quality mill.
Tampa, Fla.-based AmeriSteelCorp. has also reported a loss for the quarter ending March 31. The EAF steelmaker reports a net loss of more than $1.2 million for the quarter, compared to a profit of $5.8 million in the same quarter one year ago.
The company’s quarterly report states that improved selling volumes of its rebar steel for the quarter were offset by average selling prices that “declined from the same prior year period due primarily to dumping by foreign steel producers.”
The company backs up its claim by noting that earlier this year “the Department of Commerce announced its preliminary finding affirming dumping of rebar by eight countries and setting preliminary anti-dumping duties of 17% to 278%.”