Steel industry struggles reflected in TimkenSteel stock price

TimkenSteel Corp. stock closed Wednesday at $7.85. That's a far cry from the $37 range where the stock price hovered a year ago at this time. Steel industry stocks in general spent most of 2015 in a downward spiral. Large companies such as U.S. Steel, Nucor and industry giant Arcelor Mittal have seen stock prices tumble, as have smaller operators such as AK Steel and Allegheny Technologies. That’s due to a variety of issues hurting the industry. Manufacturing has slowed, which means there is reduced demand for steel used to make products. That has led to an oversupply of steel in the U.S. market, including an increased amount of steel shipped here from China and other countries. Until manufacturing rebounds, steel companies likely will continue to struggle, industry observers said. TimkenSteel’s sales are down because its mills are producing half as much steel as last year, noted Justin Bergner, who is a research analyst for New York-based Gabelli & Co., which owns TimkenSteel stock. The steel company used less than 50 percent of its production capacity in 2015, he said. A resurgence in oil and natural-gas drilling — it declined as oil prices dropped during 2015 — is needed to help TimkenSteel see improvements. During 2014, sales to oil and gas customers accounted for nearly 30 percent of revenue. BORN OF A BREAKUP Publicly traded companies are limited when commenting on stock prices, and TimkenSteel officials declined to comment for this story. The steel operation was part of Timken Co. until July 2014. The business was spun off after a San Diego investment firm, Relational Investors, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System forced a shareholder proxy to break the roller bearing and steel manufacturer in two. Relational Investors argued the split would improve stock value. TimkenSteel got off to a strong start, trading above $50 per share for a few weeks during the fall of 2014. But for the most part the price has been sliding, hitting a 52-week low of $7.15 in early December. PLANNING AHEAD In response to declines, TimkenSteel has made cost-cutting moves aimed at curbing losses. During the first quarter, the company posted a $6.9 million profit on flat sales. The bottom fell out in the second quarter as the company reported a $24.3 million loss and reduced sales of $164 million. Third-quarter news was worse with a $30.8 million loss and sales dropping $201.5 million. TimkenSteel cut expenses by $25 million during the second quarter and instituted another $50 million on cuts during the third quarter. A halt to paying quarterly dividends was announced in November. Declines in stock value followed each poor earnings announcement, as well as the decision to cut the dividend. Whether the trend will continue at the end of the month remains to be seen. TimkenSteel plans to release year-end results on Jan. 28.