SDI Posts Strong Numbers for Quarter, First Half of Year

Steel Dynamics, Inc. announced record second quarter earnings of $67.3 million, more than double first-quarter earnings. Net sales for the second quarter were $526 million, an increase of 37 percent from the first quarter of the year.

"The second quarter was the company's best quarterly performance yet," said Keith Busse, president and CEO of Steel Dynamics. "Our investments in new production capacity over the past several years continue to pay off as we have been able to ship increasing steel tonnage while achieving stronger margins on those higher volumes. Higher margins principally drove our earnings growth this quarter. Compared to the first quarter of 2004, our average selling values increased $110 per ton contributing to record operating profits of $131 per ton. We see continued strength in the steel marketplace, and continue to rapidly fill our order book for flat-rolled and long products. Shipping volume for structural steel was off slightly in the second quarter, but demand for beams should grow in the second half as the pace of North American non-residential construction continues to strengthen."

Second quarter shipments totaled 889,000 tons, 11 percent higher than the first quarter of the year. First half consolidated shipments of 1,687,000 tons were 30 percent higher than the first half of 2003.

In the second quarter, SDI's consolidated average selling price was $591 per ton which was $110 per ton higher than the first quarter of 2004 and $256 per ton higher than the second quarter of 2003. Second quarter scrap costs per net ton charged were $227, about $16 per ton higher than the first quarter of 2004 and about $102 per ton higher than second quarter of 2003.

The company also said that it continues to focus on the further development of scrap substitute capabilities, both through the operation of Iron Dynamics and the planned commercialization of the Mesabi Nugget process. During the second quarter, Iron Dynamics continued production of hot-briquetted iron and began production of liquid pig iron.