Ryerson sees supply constraints restricting reliable demand

Supply chain constraints continue to hamper realisable demand, says US-based service centre group Ryerson.

The company is optimistic about current demand trends, which it sees as growing, but it is expecting a further decline in shipments in the current quarter due to normal seasonality combined with persistent supply-side issues.

Ryerson reported a 7% quarter-on-quarter decline but a 6% year-on-year rise in shipments which totalled 519,000 short tons in the third quarter. Carbon steel and stainless steel shipments reached 399,000 st and 68,000 st, respectively, in Q3.

The company posted Q3 net income of $49.7 million on sales of $1.575 billion. Revenues were up 11% q-o-q and 89% y-o-y.  Net income was down 56% from Q2 income of $113m, but up significantly from the $40m net loss posted in Q3 2020. It anticipates Q4 revenues to be $1.5-1.6 billion.

Ryerson president and ceo Eddie Lehner commended his employees for performing well “alongside the myriad of unique frictions and fractures present in the world in our operating environment that permeated the past quarter.”

During the quarter, the company began working on two new facilities in Centralia, Washington, and University Park, Illinois, Kallanish notes. It also acquired Specialty Metals Processing, a toll processor in Stow, Ohio.

Laura Miller USA