Erdemir confirms 440,000 mt of received orders

Turkey's integrated steelmaker Ereğli Demir Çelik Fabrikaları TAŞ (Erdemir), Europe's eighth largest steelmaker, has confirmed that the company has 440,000 mt of received and 340,000 mt of potential steel orders Erdemir CFO Cem Karakaş commented, “Currently we have 440,000 mt of confirmed flat steel orders in the production process, 192,000 mt of which are geared towards export markets, including Italy, Spain, Greece, UK, Romania, Brazil, Israel. We have an additional 340,000 mt of potential flat steel orders, including 170,000 mt for export demand, the technical and financial terms of which are being negotiated.” Mr Karakaş added that the current order levels were better than the average monthly orders of 402,000 mt in the first nine months of 2008 when demand for steel was booming. Erdemir yesterday reported a net profit of TL 211.47 million ($122 million) in 2008, pointing to a fourth quarter loss of more than TL 1 billion due to the lack of demand.