Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel has announced that it expects its preliminary unaudited underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the six months ending December 31 to be around A$600 million. This is above the prior guidance of approximately A$510 million.
According to BlueScope, the stronger performance has been driven by stronger steel prices, the impact of stronger-than-expected iron ore prices and productivity improvements, including further cost reductions, in the Australian Steel Products, North Star BlueScope Steel and New Zealand and Pacific Steel segments.