Company: ZEUS
Filing Date: 2025-10-29
Form Type: 425
Source: 0001193125-25-256374
Chunk: 1

Company: OLYMPIC STEEL INC
Filing Date: 2025-10-29
Form: 425
Chunk 1
---
.

So
turning to our performance first, the third quarter market backdrop continued to be difficult as we now find ourselves rounding out a third year of contractionary conditions. The quarter can be summed up as a continuation of industry recessionary
conditions, characterized by falling industry shipments year over year and sequentially, with notable carbon steel margin compression, with manufacturing activity well below midcycle levels. Supply side tariffs and trade policy have placed to some
extent floors under bellwether industrial metal commodity prices. However, demand in the aggregate remains stubbornly depressed.

We have
often said the supply side sets the price. However, our customers set the discount and through the third quarter, customers continued quoting less and buying less. Within our OEM book of business, especially the contract business, we have actually
seen activity come in well below our OEM customer forecasts and historical midcycle trends. As we are in the late stages of this counter cycle that is in its 13th quarter and has been of longer duration than is typical of historical counter cycles
of between four and six quarters, the OEM side of the commercial portfolio should eventually inflect positively.

The offset to that is
the very encouraging trend of Ryerson growing its transactional business as recent investments continue to operationalize, stabilize, and scale throughout our network. This shows up in our service center fundamentals, metrics of shorter lead times,
higher service levels, and improved on-time delivery. As long as we keep on keeping on with improving the customer experience while optimizing our service center network productively and safely, our
performance will continue to improve as the market navigates the many dynamic factors currently in play around trade policy, investment, interest rates, and geopolitical commerce volatility.

We continue to drive what we can control, building earnings quality and earnings leverage by
being excellent operators of our business with sunrise consistency. We understand that decades offshoring take time to unwind just as deleveraging, asset modernization and optimization have required long term vision and commitment. We will persevere
through this market environment, working safely and passionately throughout and come out stronger on the other side. I can’t wait for Rick to join me on the call. But before we get there, I’ll turn the call over to Jim Claussen to
provide more details on our financial results and our outlook.

Jim Claussen: Thanks, Eddie, and good morning, everyone. During the third quarter, we
achieved adjusted EBITDA, excluding LIFO at the low end of our guidance range, with revenue and shipments in