Steel Dynamics quarterly profit nearly halves on weak steel pricing
July 17 (Reuters) -Steel Dynamics STLD.O on Wednesday reported a drop of 47% in second-quarter profit, amid declining domestic steel prices.
Oversupply in the market, stemming from both domestic production and imports, has led steel distributors to refrain from purchases beyond immediate inventory needs.
The steelmaker and peers Nucor NUE.N and U.S. Steel X.N, a month earlier, had warned of a fall in quarterly profits on account of the deteriorating steel prices.
"We experienced customer order inconsistency within the steel platform despite the steady underlying demand dynamics, as scrap prices further declined and customers continued to manage to very low inventory levels," said Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millett.
With prices anticipated to decline further through summer, when steel consumption traditionally wanes, analysts expect steelmakers to curb supply until domestic demand rebounds from inflationary pressures.
The company is betting on sectors such as automotive, non-residential construction and industrials, with a hope that market conditions would support solid domestic steel consumption in the second half of the year.
"Continued onshoring of manufacturing businesses, combined with the expectation of significant fixed asset investment to be derived from public funding... will competitively position the domestic steel industry," Millett said.
The company's net profit for the quarter ended June 30was $427 million, or $2.73 per share, compared with $812 million or $4.83 per share, a year earlier.
The total revenue for the quarter was $4.63 billion.
Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta, Pratyush Thakur in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
