Oregon Steel 2Q Profit Surges (AP) PORTLAND, Ore: Oregon Steel Mills Inc. said Friday its second-quarter profit surged 55 percent on product price increases and a lower tax rate, beating Wall Street expectations by a wide margin. Quarterly net income grew to $43.9 million, or $1.22 per share, from $28.4 million, or 80 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales grew to $349.6 million from $335 million last year. The results easily Wall Street's forecast for profit of 98 cents per share, though sales came in shy of analysts' $359.7 million consensus estimate, according to a poll by Thomson Financial. During the quarter, Oregon Steel boosted its average sales price per ton to $889 from $882 last year. The company also benefitted from a tax rate of 32 percent, down from 39 percent in the 2005 period. Total shipments grew to 393,200 tons from 379,600 tons, due to increased shipments of plate and coil, structural tubing, rail and seamless pipe products, partially offset by lower shipments of welded pipe and rod and bar products. The company's seamless pipe mill, which was idled in November of 2003, was restarted in December of 2005 and shipped 21,200 tons of seamless pipe during the second quarter of 2006. President and Chief Executive Jim Declusin said second-half results should be strong due to recently implemented price increases and a shift of sales to more higher-margin products. Looking ahead, the company said it expects sales of $1.6 billion for the year, in line with analysts' projections, and forecasts product shipments of 1.74 million tons. Oregon Steel also said it plans to record a charge of 37 cents per share in the third quarter related to the redemption of its outstanding 10 percent first mortgage notes due July 15, 2009. Oregon Steel shares jumped $1.67, or 3.8 percent, to $45.80 on the New York Stock Exchange in morning trading. {From Internet} Best wishes, Suman Mukherjee India. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/SumanSpeaks/