PITTSBURGH — Tube City IMS parent company TMS International Corp. saw its first-quarter net income plunge 98.2 percent despite a 12.5 percent rise in sales, but the company is bullish on the domestic market, executives said during the company’s earnings call.

The North American market showed the strongest growth in the company’s global portfolio, rising 4 percent. Mill operating rates are also higher, lead times have expanded and automotive, heavy equipment and general manufacturing are all improving, chairman, president and chief executive officer Joseph Curtin said.

The Pittsburgh-based scrap broker and mill services provider also said it recently snagged two additional contracts to provide mill services starting in the first quarter of next year.

The contracts will begin in the first quarter of 2013. While the company didn’t disclose the names of its new customers, executives did say the company would provide stainless steel slag services at one mill in Alabama and another in Saltillo, Mexico. The two contracts are worth a combined $179 million.

TMS posted net income of $113,000 on nearly $747 million in revenue during the quarter, largely due to a one-time charge of $12.3 million to retire existing obligations early when the company refinanced its debt, executives said.