US steelmaker Steel Dynamics sees a mixed bag ahead for steel pricing, Kallanish learns from the company’s third-quarter earnings review and outlook.

"Steel customer inventory levels remain lower than historical levels and year-over-year steel imports have declined approximately -20%," says ceo Mark Millett. "However, there has been buyer hesitancy in anticipation of possible declines in scrap pricing, with an expectation that this might further pressure steel prices. Additionally, we are heading into a seasonally lower demand environment and customers are hesitant to significantly increase inventories before the end of the year. Due to these factors, we anticipate lower sequential volumes in our operating platforms, which is seasonally typical for the calendar fourth quarter and sequentially weaker realized steel pricing.”

Steel Dynamics posted an adjusted Q3 profit of $160 million on sales of $2.1 billion. In Q3 2015, the company earned $61m on sales of $2 billion.