U.S. Steel Earnings Down in Second Quarter
By
Metal Center News Staff on
Aug 2, 2019 United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, reported second quarter net earnings of $68 million, a decline from the $214 million posted in the same quarter of 2018. First-half net earnings of $123 million were about half the earnings from the prior year.
Net sales for the quarter totaled $3.5 billion, a 1.8 percent decline from 2018. First-half sales of 7 billion were up 4.2 percent from the previous year.
"Our execution in the second quarter was strong despite challenging market conditions,” said President and CEO David B. Burritt. “We overcame logistics headwinds from severe weather and delivered for our customers, exceeding even our own expectations. We also completed several Asset Revitalization outages across the flat-rolled footprint on time and on budget, including upgrades to our Mon Valley steel shop."
The company’s steel shipments increased modestly to 4 million tons in the quarter, led by an 8.5 percent increase in North American flat-rolled shipments to 2.8 million tons. Shipments in the company’s European and tubular products segments both experienced quarter-over-quarter declines.
Burritt added, “Execution of our technology investments, including the Mon Valley endless casting and rolling line, Tubular electric arc furnace, and USSK Dynamo Line, are on track to deliver almost $400 million of incremental run-rate EBITDA benefits when completed. With each passing quarter, we are making the company more competitive and our continued execution is proof that our strategy is working.”