The Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has released its operational results for the first quarter of the current year.
Accordingly, in the first quarter, the company recorded a 2.9 percent decrease in its crude steel output to 3.06 million mt and a 6.7 percent decline in its finished steel product output to 2.72 million mt, both compared to the previous quarter. MMK’s overall steelmaking capacity utilization at the main Magnitogorsk site in the first quarter of this year exceeded 94 percent.
In addition, in the given quarter, MMK's production of high value-added products amounted to 1.31 million mt, falling by 1.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year, while the share of high value-added products in total output rose to 48.2 percent.
MMK stated that, in the given period, traders accumulated high stocks of steel products and this, coupled with expectations of a decline in domestic steel prices, will put pressure on its sales in the second quarter of this year. However, the current speculative growth in coal prices (caused by weather factors) will provide localized support for steel prices.