STEEL DYNAMICS INC (STLD)

ITEM 2.    MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains some predictive statements about future events, including statements related to conditions in domestic or global economies, conditions in steel, aluminum, and recycled metals market places, Steel Dynamics' revenues, costs of purchased materials, future profitability and earnings, and the operation of new, existing or planned facilities. These statements, which we generally precede or accompany by such typical conditional words as "anticipate", "intend", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "seek", "project", or "expect", or by the words "may", "will", or "should", are intended to be made as "forward-looking", subject to many risks and uncertainties, within the safe harbor protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements speak only as of this date and are based upon information and assumptions, which we consider reasonable as of this date, concerning our businesses and the environments in which they operate. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and we undertake no duty to update or revise any such statements. Some factors that could cause such forward-looking statements to turn out differently than anticipated include: (1) domestic and global economic factors; (2) global steelmaking overcapacity and imports of steel, together with increased scrap prices; (3) the cyclical nature of the metals industries and the industries we serve; (4) volatility and major fluctuations in prices and availability of scrap metal, scrap substitutes and supplies, and our potential inability to pass higher costs on to our customers; (5) cost and availability of electricity, natural gas, oil, and other energy resources are subject to volatile market conditions; (6) increased environmental, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability considerations from our customers and investors or related regulations; (7) compliance with and changes in environmental and remediation requirements; (8) significant price and other forms of competition from other steel and aluminum producers, scrap processors and alternative materials; (9) availability of an adequate source of supply of scrap for our metals recycling operations; (10) cybersecurity threats and risks to the security of our sensitive data and information technology; (11) the implementation of our growth strategy; (12) our ability to retain, develop and attract key personnel; (13) litigation and legal compliance; (14) unexpected equipment downtime or shutdowns; (15) difficulties in the launch or production ramp-up of new products; (16) our aluminum operations depend on a core group of significant customers; (17) governmental agencies may refuse to grant or renew some of our licenses and permits; (18) our existing debt agreements contain, and any future financing agreements may contain, restrictive covenants that may limit our flexibility; and (19) the impacts of impairment charges.

More specifically, we refer you to our more detailed explanation of these and other factors and risks that may cause such predictive statements to turn out differently, as set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under the headings Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors for the year ended December 31, 2025, in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, or in other reports which we from time to time file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available publicly on the Securities and Exchange Commission website, www.sec.gov, and on our website, www.steeldynamics.com under “Investors – SEC Filings.”

Description of the Business

We are a leading industrial metals solutions company, with facilities located throughout the United States and Mexico. We operate a circular manufacturing model, producing high-quality, lower-carbon-emission products with recycled scrap as the primary input. Our primary sources of revenue are currently from the manufacture and sale of steel products, the processing and sale of recycled ferrous and nonferrous metals, and the fabrication and sale of steel joists and deck products. We have also recently added aluminum operations, further diversifying our product offerings to supply aluminum flat rolled products with higher recycled content to the countercyclical sustainable beverage can industry, in addition to the automotive and industrial sectors.

Operating Statement Classifications

Net Sales. Net sales from our operations are a factor of volumes shipped, product mix, and related pricing. We charge premium prices for certain grades of steel and aluminum, product dimensions, certain smaller volumes, and for value-added processing or coating of our steel products. Except for the steel fabrication operations, we recognize revenues from sales and the allowance for estimated returns and claims from these sales at the point in time control of the product transfers to the customer, upon shipment or delivery. Our steel fabrication operations recognize revenues over time based on completed fabricated tons to date as a percentage of total tons required for each contract.

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Costs of Goods Sold. Our costs of goods sold represent all direct and indirect costs associated with the manufacture of our products. The principal elements of these costs are scrap and scrap substitutes (which represent the most significant single component of our consolidated costs of goods sold), steel substrate, direct and indirect labor and related benefits, alloys, zinc, transportation and freight, repairs and maintenance, utilities such as electricity and natural gas, and depreciation.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of all costs associated with our sales, finance and accounting, and administrative departments, including, among other items, labor and related benefits, and professional services.

Companywide profit sharing and amortization of intangible assets are each separately presented in the statements of income.

Interest Expense, net of Capitalized Interest. Interest expense consists of interest associated with our senior credit facilities and other debt, net of interest costs that are required to be capitalized during the construction period of certain capital investment projects.

Other Income, net. Other income consists of interest income earned on our temporary cash deposits, short-term and other investments, and any other non-operating income activity, including income from investments in unconsolidated affiliates accounted for under the equity method. Other expense consists of any non-operating costs, such as certain acquisition and financing expenses.

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Results Overview

In the second quarter of 2026, we achieved record quarterly total steel shipments of 3.7 million tons. Underlying domestic steel demand strengthened during the quarter, as customer orders and backlogs increased, also benefitting our metals recycling operations segment, which achieved notable improvement in operating income in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025. Our steel fabrication operations also experienced increased customer orders and backlogs, with sales volumes increasing in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the second quarter of 2025. Finally, our aluminum operations segment continues to make strong progress on the commissioning and startup of our aluminum flat-rolled sheet products mill, already providing high-quality products for the industrial, beverage and automotive markets.

Consolidated operating income increased $317.6 million, or 83%, to $700.5 million for the second quarter of 2026, compared to the second quarter of 2025, as steel and metals recycling operations metal spreads expanded. Second quarter 2026 net income attributable to Steel Dynamics, Inc. increased $235.4 million, or 79%, to $534.1 million, compared to the second quarter of 2025, consistent with increased operating income.

Consolidated operating income increased $580.5 million, or 88%, to $1.2 billion for the first half of 2026, compared to the first half of 2025. First half 2026 net income attributable to Steel Dynamics, Inc. increased $421.6 million, or 82%, to $937.5 million, compared to the first half of 2025, consistent with increased operating income.

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Segment Operating Results 2026 vs. 2025 (dollars in thousands)

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ITEM 7.        MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains some predictive statements about future events, including statements related to conditions in domestic or global economies, conditions in steel, aluminum, and recycled metals market places, Steel Dynamics' revenues, costs of purchased materials, future profitability and earnings, and the operation of new, existing or planned facilities. These statements, which we generally precede or accompany by such typical conditional words as "anticipate", "intend", "believe", "estimate", "plan", "seek", "project", or "expect", or by the words "may", "will", or "should", are intended to be made as "forward-looking", subject to many risks and uncertainties, within the safe harbor protections of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements speak only as of this date and are based upon information and assumptions, which we consider reasonable as of this date, concerning our businesses and the environments in which they operate. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and we undertake no duty to update or revise any such statements. Some factors that could cause such forward-looking statements to turn out differently than anticipated include: (1) domestic and global economic factors; (2) global steelmaking overcapacity and imports of steel, together with increased scrap prices; (3) the cyclical nature of the metals industries and the industries we serve; (4) volatility and major fluctuations in prices and availability of scrap metal, scrap substitutes and supplies, and our potential inability to pass higher costs on to our customers; (5) cost and availability of electricity, natural gas, oil, and other energy resources are subject to volatile market conditions; (6) increased environmental, greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability considerations from our customers and investors or related regulations; (7) compliance with and changes in environmental and remediation requirements; (8) significant price and other forms of competition from other steel and aluminum producers, scrap processors and alternative materials; (9) availability of an adequate source of supply of scrap for our metals recycling operations; (10) cybersecurity threats and risks to the security of our sensitive data and information technology; (11) the implementation of our growth strategy; (12) our ability to retain, develop and attract key personnel; (13) litigation and legal compliance; (14) unexpected equipment downtime or shutdowns; (15) difficulties in the launch or production ramp-up of new products; (16) our aluminum operations depend on a core group of significant customers; (17) governmental agencies may refuse to grant or renew some of our licenses and permits; (18) our existing debt agreements contain, and any future financing agreements may contain, restrictive covenants that may limit our flexibility; and (19) the impacts of impairment charges.

More specifically, we refer you to our more detailed explanation of these and other factors and risks that may cause such predictive statements to turn out differently, as set forth in the sections titled Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements at the beginning of Part I of this Report and Item 1A. Risk Factors, as well as in other subsequent reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available publicly on the Securities and Exchange Commission website, www.sec.gov, and on our website, www.steeldynamics.com under “Investors – SEC Filings.”

Operating Statement Classifications

Net Sales. Net sales from our operations are a factor of volumes shipped, product mix, and related pricing. We charge premium prices for certain grades of steel and aluminum, product dimensions, certain smaller volumes, and for value-added processing or coating of our steel products. Except for the steel fabrication operations, we recognize revenues from sales and the allowance for estimated returns and claims from these sales at the point in time control of the product transfers to the customer, upon shipment or delivery. Our steel fabrication operations recognize revenues over time based on completed fabricated tons to date as a percentage of total tons required for each contract.

Costs of Goods Sold. Our costs of goods sold represent all direct and indirect costs associated with the manufacture of our products. The principal elements of these costs are scrap and scrap substitutes (which represent the most significant single component of our consolidated costs of goods sold), steel substrate, direct and indirect labor and related benefits, alloys, zinc, transportation and freight, repairs and maintenance, utilities such as electricity and natural gas, and depreciation.

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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses. Selling, general and administrative expenses consist of all costs associated with our sales, finance and accounting, and administrative departments, including, among other items, labor and related benefits, and professional services.

Companywide profit sharing and amortization of intangible assets are each separately presented in the statements of income.

Interest Expense, net of Capitalized Interest. Interest expense consists of interest associated with our senior credit facilities and other debt, net of interest costs that are required to be capitalized during the construction period of certain capital investment projects.

Other (Income) Expense, net. Other income consists of interest income earned on our temporary cash deposits, short-term and other investments, and any other non-operating income activity, including income from investments in unconsolidated affiliates accounted for under the equity method. Other expense consists of any non-operating costs, such as certain acquisition and financing expenses.

2025 Overview

During 2025 we achieved record steel shipments of 13.7 million tons. Underlying domestic steel demand was stable during 2025, as imports declined from the elevated levels experienced during the first half of the year and as the Sinton Flat Roll Division’s year-over-year operating performance improved. Our metals recycling operations segment achieved notable improvement in operating income in 2025 compared to 2024 on higher ferrous metals volumes and higher ferrous and nonferrous pricing. Our steel fabrication operations experienced historically strong, yet moderating product pricing compared to 2024, with stabilization in selling values realized in the fourth quarter of 2025. Finally, our aluminum operations segment achieved successful production and qualifications of industrial, beverage can, and automotive quality flat rolled aluminum products, with shipments commencing in the late second half of 2025.

Consolidated net sales were $18.2 billion during 2025, with cash flow from operations of $1.4 billion. Metal spread compression in our steel and, particularly, steel fabrication segments resulted in lower operating income in 2025 compared to 2024. Consolidated operating income for 2025 decreased $467.1 million, or 24%, to $1.5 billion, compared to $1.9 billion in 2024. Net income attributable to Steel Dynamics, Inc. for 2025 decreased $351.5 million, or 23%, to $1.2 billion, compared to 2024. Diluted earnings per share attributable to Steel Dynamics, Inc. was $7.99 for 2025, compared to $9.84 for 2024.

Refer to Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, for additional information regarding results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2023, and segment operating results for 2024 as compared to 2023.

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Segment Operating Results (dollars in thousands)

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Steel Operations Segment

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Steel operations include our electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills, including Butler Flat Roll Division, Columbus Flat Roll Division, Southwest-Sinton Flat Roll Division, Structural and Rail Division, Engineered Bar Products Division, Roanoke Bar Division, and Steel of West Virginia; steel coating and processing operations at The Techs, Heartland Flat Roll Division, United Steel Supply, New Process Steel, L.P. (acquired December 1, 2025), and Vulcan Threaded Products, Inc.; warehouse operations in Mexico; and a 75% controlling equity interest in SDI Biocarbon Solutions, LLC. Steel operations accounted for 72% and 69% of our consolidated net sales during 2025 and 2024, respectively. See Item 1. Business for further information on Steel Operations segment operations.

Steel Operations Segment Shipments (tons):

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