Kloeckner Looks Forward to US Manufacturing Growth

Kloeckner Americas reported sales of €594 million ($793 million) during the third quarter, down 14.9 percent from a year ago. Third quarter EBITDA of €20 million ($26.7 million) was up 67 percent from €12 million in 2012 and was unchanged from second quarter 2013. The US segment accounted for 38 percent of Kloeckner & Co. sales while Brazil sales accounted for 1.0 percent.

Turnover for third quarter was down 4.2 percent year-over-year, at 714 million tonnes vs. 746 million tonnes.

For the first nine months of the year, EBITDA in the Americas segment, before restructuring expenses, was €60 million ($80.1 million), down slightly from €64 million ($85.5 million) in 2012 due to consolidation measures and lower steel prices in the first half of the year.

Inventory turnover for the segment declined by 3.7 percent in the first three quarters and 2.6 percent in the USA.

Kloeckner expects sales growth in the US due to a recovering manufacturing sector driven by low energy and labor costs.