Steel Mills

Olympic Steel Shows Strength in Q1

May 2, 2018

Olympic Steel reported that net sales jumped 12 percent year-over-year to $335 million in first quarter after all three of its operating segments reported double-digit growth.

“Accelerating shipments and rising prices throughout the first quarter resulted in our highest operating income in any quarter since 2011,” said Chairman and CEO Michael Siegal. Operating income increased 12 percent to $12.3 million compared to first-quarter 2017 and net income was $7.6 million.

Olympic Steel is encouraged by the long-term demand trends of its end markets. Construction equipment remains very strong and increasing activity is evident in the agriculture and transportation equipment markets.

“As we move through a busy spring season, shipping volumes and metal prices remain elevated, setting the stage for a strong first half,” Siegal said.

Olympic Steel included in its pricing outlook the one month extension of the Section 232 tariff exemptions and growing list of tariff requests.

Olympic shipped 297,604 tons of carbon flat products at an average selling price of $809 per ton in first quarter compared to $714 per ton a year ago.

The company acquired Berlin Metals, a distributor of tin mill products with a growing stainless steel business, at the end of the first quarter. Construction is underway for a new building to house a stainless steel cut-to-length line for Olympic’s Schaumburg, Ill., facility. Production is slated to begin in early 2019. A new long bed tube laser line was installed at CTI to accommodate growing processing opportunities. A refurbished third stainless steel slitter recently became operational in Streetsboro, Ohio.