Steel Mills
AK Steel Cuts Year’s Loss by More than Half
Written by Sandy Williams
January 28, 2014
AK Steel reported net income of 35.2 million for fourth quarter 2013. Sales totaled $1.46 billion in the quarter on shipments of 1.42 million tons, compared to net sales of $1.42 billion on shipments of 1,406,100 tons for Q4 2012. The increase was attributed to stronger demand in auto sales that was partially offset by lower carbon shipments to the spot market.
The average selling price for the fourth quarter was up 2 percent to $1,011 per ton on year-over year basis primarily due to higher carbon spot market prices and a favorable mix of value added products. Sequentially, average price dropped 4 percent from third quarter.
For the full year 2013, AK Steel had a net loss of $46.8 million compared to a net loss of 1.0 billion in 2012. Sales were down 6 percent to 5.57 billion on decreased shipments of 3 percent at 5.275 million tons. The average selling price dropped 3 percent from the previous year to $1,056/ton. The change was attributed to lower spot market prices in the first half of 2013, lower electrical steel selling price, and reduced raw material surcharges. AK Steel ended the year with a strong liquidity position of $845 million.
A mechanical failure at the Middletown Works blast furnace in June resulted in a pre-tax loss of $4.3 million in 2013.
Chairman, President and CEO James Wainscott said he was delighted with fourth quarter results. Consistent with its current practice, the company said that it will provide detailed guidance for its first quarter results of 2014 in March.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Ternium pushes forward with growth projects despite slump in earnings and Mexican market
Ternium S.A. Fourth quarter ended Dec.31 2024 2023 Change Net sales $3,876 $4,931 -21.4% Net income (loss) $333 $554 -39.9% Per diluted share $1.43 $2.11 -32.2% Full year ended Dec.31 Net sales $17,649 $17,610 0.2% Net income (loss) $174 $986 -82.4% Per diluted share $(0.27) $3.44 -108% (in millions of dollars except per share) While […]
Kestenbaum, Ancora state their case in proxy fight for U.S. Steel
Ancora Holdings is moving forward with its proxy fight to oust U.S. Steel’s leadership and install a new board of directors and Alan Kestenbaum as CEO.
BlueScope shelves midstream facility but still upbeat on US
BlueScope Steel is pulling back on its expansion plans in the US for now but remains optimistic about the North American market.
Japanese PM cites ‘unjust political interference’ in Nippon/USS deal: Report
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday that former President Joe Biden’s decision to block Nippon Steel’s buy of U.S. Steel was “unjust political interference,” according to a report in Reuters. This comes after another Reuters report on Friday saying that President Trump would not object to Nippon taking a minority stake in the […]
Trump says Nippon will ‘invest heavily’ in USS rather than buy it
Nippon Steel has agreed to “invest heavily in U.S. Steel as opposed to own it,” President Donald Trump said on Friday during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. U.S. Steel is “a very important company” and was once “the greatest company in the world”. Of potential foreign ownership of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, Trump said, “the concept, psychologically, not good."