Global steelmaking and mining giant Evraz Group S.A. has announced that its crude steel output in the first quarter of the current year increased by 11 percent quarter on quarter to 4.068 million mt mainly due to the absence of overhauls and lengthy maintenance works at Evraz's Russian and Ukrainian steel mills. Meanwhile, the Q1 output decreased by six percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The resumption of operations at the Evraz Vitkovice steelmaking shop in the Czech Republic also contributed to higher crude steel output in Q1 this year.
The group's consolidated production of finished steel goods in Q1 was largely flat quarter on quarter, while its total steel product output including semi-finished increased by 10.8 percent quarter on quarter to 3.619 million mt primarily due to higher output of semi-finished products in Russia. As a result, the share of finished steel products as a percentage of total production of steel products totalled 74 percent in Q1 this year compared to 80 percent in Q4 last year.
In Q1 this year, the crude steel production of the Russian division of Evraz Group increased by seven percent quarter on quarter to 2.948 million mt.
Evraz's Ukraine operations registered a 46.1 percent quarter-on-quarter rise in crude steel output to 244,000 mt in the first quarter as there were no converter shop repairs.
In the first quarter this year, the North America unit of Evraz announced a 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter decrease to 561,000 mt in its crude steel production.
For iron ore, Evraz Group's production in the first quarter was 1.4 percent higher at 5.203 million mt, while raw coking coal production increased by 8.7 percent to 4.751 million mt, both quarter on quarter.