Tough time for WCI Steel

WCI Steel lost money for the second straight quarter and warned of difficult times for the current quarter.

The Warren steelmaker said today that it lost $4.3 million in the first quarter of this year, which followed a $1.1 million loss in the fourth quarter of last year. The company blamed a weak market and unplanned outages at the mill for the loss in the first quarter. A vessel that carries molten iron was damaged last quarter, which reduced production.

Patrick Tatom, WCI president and chief executive, said the second quarter is proving to be challenging because of another unplanned outage. The blast furnace was taken off line for a week in April because of other work going on at the mill, but crews unexpectedly needed two more weeks to get the blast furnace up and running, he said.

Still, Tatom said he expects the second half of this year to be better than the second half of 2006. “Although expected first half results are unacceptable, we are taking the right actions to position WCI Steel for a profitable second half," he said.

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