U.S. Steel turns $51 million profit in 3Q 2016, best since 2014

"We faced some operational challenges that limited our ability to realize the full benefits of an improved pricing environment, but we continued to make progress in our Carnegie Way transformation efforts," said U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi. "With our very strong cash and liquidity position, we remain focused on the investments that we need to continue to make to revitalize our facilities and deliver value-enhancing solutions for our customers."

The Flat Rolled Segment, which includes Gary Works, East Chicago Tin and the Midwest Plant in Portage, earned $114 million in the third quarter, as compared to $6 million in the second quarter.

U.S. Steel now has $3.1 billion in liquidity, including $1.4 billion in cash. The company generated $577 million in the last quarter.

"As we move through the rest of 2016, operational issues remain a headwind for us, as we continue to recover from unplanned outages in the third quarter, while also completing our planned maintenance outages," Longhi said. "We have identified the critical assets that require additional capital investment and increased maintenance spending in order to improve our reliability and quality, and to lower our costs."

Even after a good quarter, U.S. Steel expects to lose $355 million for the year. The steelmaker, however, still expects to be cash positive after selling $482 million more in equity.

"We plan to use our strong cash and liquidity position to expedite the revitalization of our facilities and to fund additional growth projects," Longhi said. "This will enhance the ongoing development of the differentiated solutions that make us a strategic business partner for our customers."