Roanoke Electric Steel Corp. reported a loss for the first quarter of $4.875 million, compared to earnings of $624,637 in the first quarter last year. Sales for the 2002 first quarter were $57,939,910, down 22.5 percent from sales of $74.771 million for the same period last year.
``The 2002 first quarter was affected by further reductions in selling prices, that were already at severely depressed levels, along with poor business conditions. In addition, higher production costs negatively impacted margins and earnings, as production schedules were curtailed to reduce inventories and build backlogs, said Don Smith, chairman and CEO.
``The outlook for the second quarter is somewhat brighter. Orders for merchant bar products, specialty steel products and billets are improving, and our mills are operating at increased rates,” he added.
``In addition, a selling price increase for merchant bar products, effective in early March, has been announced by a number of mills. We expect our second quarter results to be improved from the first quarter,'' Smith said.