German steelmaker Salzgitter has announced an adjustment of its guidance for the current year, now expecting a pre-tax loss for the year due to higher raw material and energy costs. Salzgitter also said that the anticipated seasonal upturn in demand has failed to materialize.
According to Salzgitter's statement, as a result of the severe structural crisis in the European steel market, the prospect of the markets stabilizing over the course of the coming months has deteriorated.
In the first quarter of 2013, Salzgitter saw a pre-tax loss of € 15.8 million, down from a pre-tax loss of €19.6 million in the first quarter of the previous year, while sales declined 7.7 percent year on year to €2.4 billion.