BHP Steel will report good results this year
Australian steelmaker
BHP Steel Ltd. announced that its joint venture North Star's first half earnings will be lower than the same period last year.
The company also stated that the profitability of North Star can be negatively impacted by the rising
scrap costs as well as strong
Australia and
New Zealand Dollars.
Even though,
BHP Steel expects to complete this year with good results as a result of upward trend of global steel demand driven mainly by
China and hot rolled coil prices in terms of US Dollar remained attractive in the Asian region.
BHP Steel officials expressed that the company is planning to change its strategy by producing and selling more value-added steel products. Also, it is stated that downstream value-added products will grow faster than
production of
slab and hot rolled.
BHP Steel believes that by producing and selling more value-added steel products, the company can increase its revenue and reduce price volatility.
BHP Steel also requires to become a more customer oriented and market driven company.