NEW YORK — Lackluster demand and sluggish global economic conditions led AK Steel Corp. to post a net loss of $230.4 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, it said Jan. 29, marking its sixth consecutive quarterly loss.

That widened from a net loss of $193.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, the West Chester, Ohio-based steelmaker said.
“Sluggish economic conditions impacted global demand and selling prices for steel products during the fourth quarter and the full year of 2012,” James L. Wainscott, AK’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Taking everything into account, we expect a significantly better first quarter and full-year 2013.”

Net sales for the period totaled $1.42 billion, down 5.7 percent from $1.51 billion in the year-ago quarter, on shipments that eased 0.3 percent to 1.406 million tons from 1.409 million tons.

The company also posted a full-year net loss of $1.03 billion, more than six times the 2011 net loss of $155.6 million.

The flat steel producer last week led a price hike on all carbon flat-rolled steel products, which buyers said was aimed at stopping a softening in domestic tags (amm.com, Jan. 22).