Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox S.A. has reported a net profit of €151 million for the first half of the current year, compared to a net profit of €8.68 million in the corresponding period of 2016, while its net sales came to €2.44 billion, increasing by 28.1 percent year on year owing to the general price increase in all markets with respect to last year. Meanwhile, the company’s EBITDA rose by 165 percent year on year to €317 million.
According to Acerinox, the second quarter was the second-best quarter of the past three years, only surpassed by the exceptional first quarter of this year, owing to the positive impact of the rise in the price of ferrochrome.
Acerinox CEO Bernardo Velázquez stated that the stabilization of alloy surcharges, together with the strength of demand and a decline in inventories, allows the company to expect a reactivation which could give rise to further increases in prices once the summer period is over.