On February 3, Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu released its financial results for the last quarter of 2009 and for the whole year.
Accordingly, in the last quarter of 2009, Outokumpu's sales declined 24.64 percent year on year, reaching €728 million, while its net loss amounted to €6 million, up from the net loss of €233 million recorded in the last quarter of 2008.
On the other hand, in 2009, the company's sales totaled €2.61 billion, decreasing by 52.3 percent year on year, and its net loss reached €336 million, compared to a net loss of €189 million registered in 2008.
According to the company statement, 2009 was a historically difficult year for stainless steel producers. The global recession had a significant impact on the industry, especially in Europe. During the first part of 2009, demand was extremely weak and the markets were characterized by a heavy reduction of inventories in the whole value chain. Some recovery occurred in the summer but the markets softened again towards the end of the year.
To adjust to the weak demand, Outokumpu implemented heavy production cuts; the average capacity utilization was very low at about 60 percent in 2009. Stainless steel deliveries in 2009 totaled 1.03 million tons, 28 percent lower as compared to 2008.
The company states that no major improvement in the underlying demand for stainless steel is yet visible. Steel distributors' cautious buying behavior continued over the year-end. During the past few weeks, order intake has, however, been more encouraging. Outokumpu's underlying operational result in the first quarter of 2010 is expected to be at the same level or somewhat weaker than in the fourth quarter of 2009.