Egyptian steel producer Ezz Steel has announced its consolidated results for the first nine months ending September 30, 2018.
In the given period, the company registered a sales revenue of EGP 37.45 billion ($2.1 billion), up 28 percent from EGP 29.35 billion ($1.65 billion) in the same period last year. On the other hand, the company recorded a net loss of EGP 1 billion ($56 million) for the given period, compared to a net loss of EGP 1.38 billion ($77.28 million) in the first nine months of 2017. Ezz Steel’s EBITDA amounted to EGP 4.59 billion ($257 million) in the January-September period this year, rising by 69 percent year on year from EGP 2.71 billion ($151.76 million).
In the first nine months, Ezz Steel's sales, in terms of volume, totaled 3.42 million mt, increasing by four percent year on year. In the given period, Ezz Steel's long steel production volume amounted to 2.5 million mt, up four percent, while its flat steel production volume went up by 19 percent to 1.1 million mt, both year on year.
Ezz Steel chairman and managing director Paul Chekaiban stated that the net loss registered in the first nine months of the current year was mainly due to rising costs such as prices of raw materials, energy, graphite electrodes and ferroalloys. Furthermore, finished product prices declined caused by protective trade measures in international markets and the surge of imports in the domestic market. The company’s improved industrial activity in the given period could not offset all these negative impacts. Mr. Chekaiban called on the Egyptian authorities to implement measures to ensure fairer market conditions.