WCI loses $12.5 million in 2nd quarter

WARREN — The executive brought in to make WCI Steel profitable said a second-quarter loss of $12.5 million was unacceptable.

“There are no easy fixes but there will be fixes to the problems that WCI Steel confronts,” said Michael Buenzow, interim president and chief executive, said Thursday in a conference call with analysts.

The search is on for more ways to cut costs and increase efficiency, said Buenzow, who was hired last month to replace Patrick Tatom.

A new furnace is scheduled to be operating in January, which will improve operating earnings by between $10 and $14 million a year, he said.

The new $37 million furnace, which reheats steel slabs for processing, will be more efficient and will allow the mill to make larger steel coils and more value-added products.

Product sales for the second quarter were $191 million, compared with $219.3 million in the same period last year.

For more on this story, see The Vindicator or www.vindy.com Friday.