Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) reported Q2 EPS of $3.40, $0.02 worse than the analyst estimate of $3.42. Revenue for the quarter came in at $4.5 billion versus the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion.

Outlook :

"We remain confident that macroeconomic and market conditions are in place to support strong domestic steel demand in 2021 and beyond," said Millett. "We continue to see strong steel demand coupled with extremely low customer steel inventories throughout the supply chain. The automotive sector continues to be strong, despite the electronic chip shortage, and other sectors such as construction, equipment and transportation remain solid. Order entry activity continues to be robust across our businesses, and when coupled with low inventory, supports strong steel selling values. We believe this momentum will continue throughout the year and that our third quarter 2021 earnings could represent another record performance. Based on solid domestic steel fundamentals and customer confidence, we continue to be positive regarding North American steel market dynamics. This constructive environment coupled with our strategic growth initiatives provide firm drivers for our further growth in the coming years.

"We and our customers continue to be extremely excited about our Sinton Texas EAF Flat Roll Steel Mill investment. It represents transformational competitively-advantaged strategic growth, with associated long-term value creation for all of our stakeholders. We are currently hot-commissioning the value-added paint line, and we expect the galvanizing line to be operational next month. The entire Sinton team is doing a tremendous job. Due to the excessive heavy rains in Texas, actual steel production will be delayed and is now planned to start mid fourth quarter 2021. Based on current plans, we believe shipments from Sinton could be in the range of 100,000 tons during the remainder of 2021 and between 2.2 million tons to 2.4 million tons in 2022. Based on mid-cycle flat roll metal spreads, we currently believe through-cycle annual EBITDA for our Sinton Texas Flat Roll Steel Mill once fully operational with access to four value-added coating lines (estimated to be 2023) is likely in the range of $475 million to $525 million.

"We also plan to invest approximately $450 million to $500 million in four additional value-added flat roll steel coating lines comprised of two paint lines and two galvanizing lines with Galvalume® coating capability, a set of which will be located in the Southern U.S. to provide Sinton with the same diversification and higher-margin product capabilities as our two existing flat roll steel divisions. The other two lines will be located in the Midwest to support growing coated flat roll steel demand and to further increase the diversification and cash generation capacity of our existing Midwest operations. Based on current estimates, we believe these four lines will likely begin operating sometime in the second half of 2022.

"Our commitment to all aspects of sustainability is embedded in our founding principles — valuing the health and safety of our teams, our customers, our communities, and our environment. We recently announced greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy goals, including a goal for our steel mills to be carbon neutral by 2050. Our goals expand on Steel Dynamics' existing strong sustainability focus. We have been a leader in the area for more than 25 years with our exclusive use of electric arc furnace technology, circular manufacturing model, and innovative teams creating solutions to increase efficiencies, reduce raw material usage, reuse secondary materials, and promote material conservation and recycling. We are starting from a position of strength yet plan to do more. We are competitively positioned and focused toward generating long-term sustainable growth for all of our stakeholders," concluded Millett.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Steel Dynamics (STLD) click here.