Middletown steelmaker AK Steel Corp. reported a net loss of $59.2 million, or a loss of 54 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2010, well below the net earnings of $6.2 million, or six cents per share, reported for the same quarter last year.

However, losses for the year up to Sept. 30 are less than they were at a similar point in 2009. AK reported net losses of $30.6 million, or 28 cents per share, for the nine months that ended Sept. 30, 2010, compared to net losses of $114.4 million, or $1.05 per share, at the same point last year.

Higher prices of iron ore, a key raw ingredient in steelmaking, affected the quarterly results, AK said. The steelmaker said a supplier of iron ore “continues to seek a price increase in excess of 98.65 percent” of what AK says is the “annual benchmark price.”

Net sales for the third quarter were $1.575.9 million on shipments of 1,465,800 tons, above the sales of $1,041.1 million on shipments of 1,047,800 tons for the year-ago quarter, AK said.

Based in Butler County’s West Chester Twp., AK has a steel plant and research center in Middletown.