Steel Mills

BlueScope Increases Guidance on Strong North Star Performance

Written by Laura Miller

May 19, 2022

Improving results from North Star BlueScope are again causing Australian steel producer BlueScope Steel to raise its 2H FY2022 earnings guidance. The previous expectations of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for 2H of AUD $1.2 billion to $1.35 billion has been increased to $1.375 billion to $1.475 billion.

northstar bluescope

The company is expecting improving earnings from its North Star sheet minimill in Delta, Ohio, and its North American coated business, with better-than-expected realized steel prices and spreads in the US. The company recently celebrated North Star’s $700 million expansion project, which will boost the mill’s annual hot rolled coil production by 850,000 metric tons once complete. The first coil from the expansion is expected in the coming weeks.

To complement its West Coast coatings business, BlueScope announced in April that it would buy the second largest metal painter in the US, Coil Coatings, for $500 million. The deal is expected to close this calendar year.

In Australia, supply chain disruptions from flooding, rail outages, and Covid-related issues in the company’s steel products segment are being partially offset by stronger realized steel spreads and a strong performance from downstream businesses.

“Throughout recent macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, BlueScope has continued to demonstrate strength and resilience in its business performance. In the current strong demand environment, the entire BlueScope team is working as hard as they can to improve our service levels, which have been impacted by supply chain and pandemic-related disruptions,” BlueScope managing director and CEO Mark Vassella said in the earnings guidance.

BlueScope will release its full financial results for fiscal year 2022 ending June 30 on August 15.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

 

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

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