Additionally, U. S. Steel said that it expects results will be below the current range of earnings estimates reported by investment analysts, and that significant declines in income for the Flat- rolled and U. S. Steel Europe segments, compared to second quarter results, will be reported in late October.
The company attributed the lowered expectations to higher natural gas and scrap prices. The company also reports that costs for flat rolled steel are expected to be somewhat higher than second quarter costs. Flat-rolled steel shipments are now expected to be slightly below second quarter levels.
The company also reported that its blast furnace outage at U. S. Steel Kosice has expanded in scope and schedule, and this furnace is scheduled to return to production by the middle of next month. Third quarter shipments in Europe will be below second quarter, and raw material costs will decline less than the company's prior expectations. As expected, spot-market prices have substantially declined in the third quarter compared to the second quarter.
Order rates have strengthened both domestically and in Europe and are expected to support higher operating levels when the two blast furnace projects are completed and the furnaces are returned to production. Tubular markets and operations remain strong.