AK Steel provided guidance for its third quarter of 2012 financial results.

AK Steel said it expects shipments of approximately 1,375,000 tons in the 2012 third quarter, or about 3% higher than in the second quarter of 2012. The company said it expects its average per-ton selling price for the third quarter of 2012 will be about 7% lower than for the second quarter of 2012. This reduction in average selling price is largely the result of three factors: lower spot market prices for carbon steel products, due primarily to a decline in global economic and business conditions; reduced raw material surcharges, due to lower raw material costs; and a lower percentage of value-added products in the total mix of shipments, due principally to market seasonality resulting from factors such as summer plant closures in the automotive industry.

AK Steel expects its third quarter 2012 results to reflect approximately US$29 million in planned major maintenance outage expense, compared to approximately US$1 million in the second quarter of 2012.

AK Steel also said that, despite a projected pre-tax loss, it expects to record a non-cash tax expense of approximately US$29 million, or $0.26 per share, for the third quarter of 2012. This tax expense is primarily attributable to a tax valuation allowance recorded by the company in the second quarter of 2012 and the LIFO-related tax-planning strategies used to support the value of a portion of the company’s remaining deferred tax assets.

As a result of all of these factors, AK Steel said it expects to incur a net loss of between $0.60 and $0.65 per diluted share of common stock for the third quarter of 2012.