When the Schnitz Hits the Fan (at Motley Fool) and La. state official expects Nucor decision by March (AP)

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City of Industry, CA --(www.USEquityNews.com)-- 01/12/2009 - Steel and Iron industry alert provided by U.S. Equity News. Motley Fool Pro is now accepting new members for a few days only. Your spot is reserved! To learn more, click below. Is 2009 over yet? With investors moping around over trillion-dollar deficits and rising unemployment, some are undoubtedly wishing we could fast-forward to 2010. Not so fast! The more dire things look, the more likely we are to see the stimulus package from the incoming Obama administration reach truly massive proportions. For scrappy steelmakers like Schnitzer Steel (Nasdaq: SCHN), federal stimulus must increasingly be seen as the difference between a year to remember ... and a year to forget. Schnitzer Steel released earnings this week for the fiscal first quarter of its fiscal 2009 year, and the numbers were not pretty. After inventory writedowns of $52 million, the company posted a net loss of $34 million, compared to a record gain of $126 million just one quarter ago. [Read the full article]


BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The state's economic development chief says he expects a decision by the end of March on whether steelmaker Nucor Corp. will build a $2 billion plant in Louisiana.Stephen Moret, secretary of Louisiana's Department of Economic Development, told lawmakers Friday that he's hopeful the state will land the project.Nucor is choosing between sites in St. James Parish and Brazil.Moret says Nucor is still waiting for federal environmental permitting approvals before it makes a decision.According to Nucor, the plant would produce pig iron, a raw ingredient in steel making. The initial phase of the plant would employ 500 people with an average salary of $75,000. The company is considering up to three phases, which would bring even more jobs. [Read the full article]

On January 8, 2009, Schnitzer Steel Industries (Nasdaq: SCHN) reported that it swung to a net loss during Q1 FY09, hurt by noncash inventory write-downs of $52.00 million, amid rapid decline in demand for recycled metals and finished steel products. Net loss stood at $34.00 million or $1.21 per share compared to a profit of $24.71 million or $0.85 per share a year ago. The latest quarterly consensus estimate was a loss of $0.75 per share. During Q1 FY09, SCHN's revenue fell 17.4% to $498.57 million from $603.90 million in Q1 FY08, as a result of rapid and precipitous drop in both sales volumes and sales prices across businesses. In addition, Metal Recycling Business (MRB) revenue shrunk 16.7% to $401.18 million, impacted by a 31.0% drop in sales ferrous volumes and a 22.0% decline in nonferrous average net sales price, offset by a 26.0% rise in ferrous average net sales price. [Read the full article]

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Shares of Schnitzer Steel Industries Inc. fell nearly 10 percent Friday as a UBS analyst slashed her fiscal second-quarter earnings per share estimate, following the company's weak outlook. The Portland, Ore.-based company said Thursday that falling prices in metals recycling and finished steel products and lower volume in scrapped vehicles will hurt its fiscal second-quarter results.Analyst Timna Tanners now expects Schnitzer to earn just 12 cents per share for the period, down from a prior estimate of 56 cents. [Read the full article]

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