Russel Reports Earnings Down from Last Year

Russel Metals, Inc., Canada’s second largest metals distributor, reported revenues of $937 million in the second quarter. Net income totaled $31 million, about half the $66 million the company earned in the same quarter last year (figures are in Canadian dollars). The company’s gross margins in this year’s second quarter averaged 18.8 percent, well below the 24.2 percent in the prior-year period due to the U.S. Section 232 tariffs, which led to higher selling prices.

“We achieved solid second-quarter results as we navigated declining steel prices and modest demand following an exceptional 2018,” said, Russel President and CEO John G. Reid. “The removal of North American Section 232 and retaliatory tariffs in May 2019 lowered North American prices. Steel prices appear to be nearing the bottom early in the third quarter of 2019. Overall demand, while lower than 2018, remained steady in all three [of Russel’s] segments. World trade uncertainty tempered manufacturing growth particularly in the agricultural, heavy equipment, transportation and construction industries.”