Evraz sees increase in Q1 steel output due to improved demand

The Russian steel producing and mining company Evraz Group (Evraz) has announced that in Q1 2011 it increased its production of steel and major rolled products as a result of completion of converter shop modernization at the end of 2010 and improved demand in key markets, adding that the pricing for major product groups also increased, reflecting continuous recovery in all the world markets.
 
In Q1, Evraz's crude steel output rose by 9.8 percent year on year to 4.39 million mt, while its pig iron production went up by 2.5 percent year on year to 3.07 million mt.
 
Specifically, in Q1 2011, Evraz's Russian crude steel output increased by ten percent year on year to 3.19 million mt, while its Ukrainian crude steel production went down by 7.3 percent year on year to 230,000 mt. Meanwhile, Evraz's North American crude steel production in Q1 increased by 2.5 percent to 588,000 mt, its South African crude steel output increased by 9.9 percent to 201,000 mt, while its European crude steel production saw a growth of 90.2 percent to 182,000 mt, after its Czech subsidiary Evraz Vitkovice Steel reached an agreement on hot metal supplies in mid-November.  
 
Evraz's finished steel product output up by 3-14 percent in Q1
 
In Q1 2011, Evraz's rolled steel product output went up by 12.5 percent to 4.02 million mt, including 1.27 million mt of construction steel products - up 6.4 percent, 1.096 million mt of semi-finished steel products - up 14.8 percent due to demand and higher prices, and 720,000 mt of flat rolled steel products - up 13.8 percent due to recovering market in Europe and North America.