US Steel Rivals Confirm BlueScope Steel's Concerns on North American Pricing
US Steel Rivals Confirm BlueScope Steel's Concerns on North American Pricing
Three quarterly results from U.S. steel rivals to BlueScope Steel (ASX:BSL) confirm the fears BSL has about pricing in the North American business in the six months to June.
美国钢铁行业的三家竞争对手克利夫兰克里夫、纽柯钢铁和steel dynamics发布的三个季度业绩表明,蓝思钢铁在6月份的北美生意价格担忧是有道理的。
BlueScope reports its full-year results for 2023-24 on August 19, but at its interim release in February, it warned, "Our outlook for the Company in the second half is for a result slightly below 1H FY2024, in an environment of unprecedented softness in Asian steel spreads."
蓝思将于2023-24年度全年财报发布日8月19日公布全年业绩。但在2月的中期报告中,蓝思发出了警告:“在亚洲的钢铁价差空前疲软的情况下,公司下半年的展望是略低于2024年上半年的结果。”
While the softness in Asia has continued, especially in China, the June quarter figures from Cleveland-Cliffs, Nucor, and Steel Dynamics suggest the U.S. steel sector saw soft demand and prices across the three months to the end of last month, just as BlueScope suggested in its February report.
尽管亚洲市场尤其是中国的疲软态势持续存在,但克利夫兰克里夫、纽柯钢铁和steel dynamics在6月份出现了软弱的需求和价格,与蓝思在2月份的报告中所说情形相同。
The company's North American business is its most important revenue and earnings center. The first-half EBIT of $417 million was down 15% on the second half of 2022-23 (a comparison with the first half of 2022-23 would be misleading because of changes to the structure and business mix).
蓝思在北美的业务是其最重要的收入和利润中心。上半年41700万美元的EBIt较2022-23下半年下降了15%(与2022-23上半年的比较会有误导性,因为企业结构和业务组合已有更改)。
BlueScope did warn of softening demand from some customers.
蓝思确实警告称某些客户的需求正在减弱。
On Monday, Cleveland-Cliffs, a blast furnace-based producer and iron ore miner, which is not strictly comparable to BSL, said it withstood a fall in revenue from the weak market to do better than forecast.
周一,采用高炉工艺的钢铁生产商和铁矿石开采商Cleveland-Cliffs表示,面对市场低迷的营收下滑,业绩高于预期。
Cleveland-Cliffs reported a steep drop in second-quarter profit as weakening prices reduced margins for steel. Nucor said profit plunged in the second quarter, hit by lower selling prices, and warned about a sequential drop in profit in the third quarter. Steel Dynamics revealed a drop of 47% in second-quarter profit, thanks to falling domestic steel prices. The latter two companies are, like BSL, electric arc furnace-based producers of steel and products like coil, flat rolled, or coated steel.
Cleveland-Cliffs报告称,由于价格下跌,钢铁利润空间大幅缩水,第二季度利润大幅下降。纽柯钢铁表示,第二季度利润骤降,受到销售价格下降的影响,并警告第三季度利润将出现环比下滑。Steel Dynamics由于国内钢铁价格下跌,第二季度利润下跌了47%。后两家公司与蓝思一样都是以电弧炉为基础的钢铁制造商,生产卷材、平板和涂层钢等产品。
Cleveland-Cliffs earned just $US2 million for the quarter on a near 20% drop in revenue to $US5.09 billion because of weakening demand and prices for flat-rolled products (its staple). The company's gross margin fell to $US145 million from $US629 million last quarter.
Cleveland-Cliffs的营收下降了近20%,降至50.9亿美元,毛利从上个季度的6.29亿美元下降到1.45亿美元,其主要产品——扁平轧制制品的需求和价格疲软。
The company, however, seems not to be too upset, announcing last week that it planned to acquire Canadian steelmaker Stelco for $3.4 billion Canadian dollars ($US2.48 billion).
然而,该公司似乎并不太担心,上周宣布计划收购加拿大钢铁制造商Stelco,购价为34亿加元(24.8亿美元)。
Nucor beat market estimates for earnings, though they were still down sharply, at $US645.22 million, more than 50% lower than the $US1.46 billion in last year's second quarter. The company's revenue for the quarter fell 15.1% to $US8.08 billion from $US9.52 billion last year—a pointer for BlueScope.
Nucor的每股收益超出市场预期,但仍大幅下跌,为6452.2万美元,比去年同期的1.46亿美元低超过50%。该公司本季度的营收从去年的95.2亿美元下降了15.1%至80.8亿美元,为蓝思提供了参考。
Nucor, a giant electric arc furnace-based producer, said on Monday that it lifted sales volumes in the steel products segment in the quarter, which partially offset the lower domestic steel prices. However, it expects lower prices to continue to weigh on earnings, forecasting a weaker third quarter compared to the three months to June 29.
周一,Cleveland-Cliffs一家采用高炉工艺的生产商和铁矿石开采商表示,钢铁产品销售量增加,部分抵消了国内钢铁价格下跌的劣势。然而,公司预计价格将继续施加压力,预计第三季度将与6月29日前三个月相比更加疲软。
Nucor said average steel pricing fell due to an oversupply of steel from both domestic production and imports, prompting distributors to refrain from purchasing excess inventory.
Nucor表示,由于国内生产和进口钢铁库存过剩,导致平均钢材价格下降,促使经销商不愿购买过多的库存。
A third producer, Steel Dynamics, the third-largest U.S. producer, also blamed too much steel in the market for the weak prices and demand.
第三大美国生产商Steel Dynamics也将市场上的过量钢铁归咎于价格和需求的疲软。
"We experienced customer order inconsistency within the steel platform despite the steady underlying demand dynamics, as scrap prices further declined and customers continued to manage to very low inventory levels," said Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millett.
Steel Dynamics首席执行官马克·米勒特说:“尽管稳定的基础需求背景下,我们在钢铁平台内遇到客户订单不一致的情况,因为废钢价格进一步下降,客户继续管理非常低的库存水平。”
With prices anticipated to decline further through summer, when steel consumption traditionally wanes, analysts expect steelmakers to trim production until domestic demand rebounds. The company is betting on sectors such as automotive, non-residential construction, and industrials, hoping that market conditions would support solid domestic steel consumption in the second half of the year.
由于钢铁消费季节性下降等原因,分析师们预计,当价格进一步下跌时,钢铁生产商将削减产量,直到国内需求反弹为止。该公司押注汽车、非住宅建筑和工业等行业,希望市场状况能够支持下半年强劲的国内钢铁消费。
"Continued onshoring of manufacturing businesses, combined with the expectation of significant fixed asset investment to be derived from public funding... will competitively position the domestic steel industry," Millett said.
米勒特说:“随着制造业企业的持续转移回国,以及将要从公共资金中获得的重大固定资产投资预期......将使国内钢铁产业具有竞争力。”
The company's net profit for the quarter ended June 30 was $US427 million, almost half of the $US812 million a year ago. The total revenue for the quarter was $US4.63 billion, down from $US5.08 billion in the June quarter of last year.
针对三家美国巨头,由于严格控制成本,他们的今季现金流表现强劲,成为BSL美国表现的参考。该公司截至6月30日的净利润为4,2700万美元,几乎是一年前同期的8,1200万美元的一半。本季度的总收入为46.3亿美元,较去年同期的50.8亿美元下降。
All three U.S. giants saw solid cash flows in the quarter as they kept tight control on costs, so a pointer on what to watch for from BSL's American performance.
这三家美国巨头在本季度保持着强劲的现金流表现,并严格控制成本,这为BSL的美国业绩提供了参考依据。