Acerinox: Stainless steel market improves in Q1, but prices and inventories still low

The Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox S.A. has announced that in the first quarter of 2013 the stainless steel market has experienced an improvement compared to the end of 2012. However, doubts about the economic recovery and the cautiousness in the market have stopped the traditional restocking process of the first quarter. The continued downward trend in the nickel price has not encouraged distributors to make speculative purchases either, and thus apparent consumption, prices and inventories remained low.
 
Acerinox said that the European market has still not overcome its current difficulties and apparent consumption declined in the first quarter by 6.8 percent, adding that there are still no clear signs of a recovery in final demand. On the other hand, Acerionox hopes that the long merger process between Outokumpu and Inoxum is finally completed, as well as the sale of the Italian plant Terni, "which is causing a lot of uncertainty".
 
On the contrary, the situation in the American market, Acerinox's main market, is very different, with growth of 9.2 percent in the first two months of the year. However, import pressure is hindering the expected price increases, the company statement reads.
 
In Asia, Acerinox said that it could not detect a great deceleration before the Chinese New Year, nor did it perceived increased activity after it.
 
In the first quarter of 2013, the company's hot rolled product output came to 514,800 metric tons, decreasing by 25,000 mt year on year, while its cold rolled product production totaled 365,600 mt, down 14,000 mt year on year.
 
In the given period, Acerinox' profit after tax amounted to €15.31 million, down from €29.36 million in the corresponding period last year, while its net sales came to €1.04 billion, decreasing by 15.8 percent year on year.