CAP Acero, the Chilean-based steelmaking arm of CAP Group, said it went from a net profit of $816,000 in Q3 2018 to a net loss of $41.9 million in Q3 this year. The company attributed the quarterly loss to a 6.5 percent year-on-year decrease in average steel selling prices in Q3, as well as reduced steel sales volumes.
CAP Acero said steel sales volumes in Q3 this year reached 509,637 mt, down from 560,261 mt in Q3 2018.
Net revenues in Q3 totaled $364 million, down from $421 million in Q3 2018. CAP Acero reported an EBITDA loss of $34.4 million in Q3 2019, as opposed to the positive EBITDA of $26.8 million it posted in Q3 2018.
It attributed the decreased steel sales volumes and EBITDA to a halt at its No. 1 blast furnace in March 2019 and due to higher iron ore prices.