At the annual general meeting of the Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu held on Thursday, March 26, Outokumpu CEO Mika Seitovirta said that the technical issues that occurred last year at the cold rolling mills in Calvert, Alabama have been resolved, and all lines are running. He added that the company's top priority is to continue the profitability improvement at its Americas unit which has been hampered by the delivery issues and current weakness in the distributor sector due to the recent surge in Asian imports.
The Outokumpu CEO also stated that the company welcomes the provisional antidumping duties imposed by the European Commission on stainless cold rolled steel imports from China and Taiwan. "It remains to be seen how this will impact the global trade flows of stainless steel," he noted.