US Steel Reports 2Q Loss

United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, PA, posted its second straight quarterly loss, as the global slowdown stifled orders and prices for the metal, the Associated Press reports.

Analysts said that although steelmakers and other producers have been hurt by sharply lower orders from steel-intensive industries, demand and prices have picked up recently but they still remain well below record levels reached last summer.

US Steel lost $392 million, in the three months ended June 30. That compares with a profit of $668 million, in a year earlier. A gain from foreign currency exchange narrowed the latest loss by $41 million. Quarterly revenue fell 68% to $2.13 billion.

All three of US Steel’s business segments reported losses but they narrowed from the first quarter at its European operations and North American flat-rolled business. US Steel Corp. said its tubular business reported a second-quarter loss after a profit a year earlier.

Still, the company’s bottom line improved over the first three months of the year, and it expects steel production to rise this summer from extremely low levels in the April-June period.

The rise in orders in recent weeks indicates customers may be replenishing their stockpiles of steel in North America and Central Europe, the company said. To meet the demand, US Steel has begun to restart idled mills and raise prices in its flat-rolled and European businesses.