Egypt's largest steelmaker Ezz Steel Co. has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended on March 31, 2012.
In the first quarter, Ezz Steel achieved a net profit of EGP 18 million ($2.95 million) compared to a net loss of EGP 10 million in the same period of the previous year.
In the given quarter, net sales increased by 18 percent year on year to EGP 5.2 billion ($825.5 million). Ezz Steel stated that, in terms of volume, its sales in the first quarter increased by 13 percent to 1.2 million mt, due to increased long product production at its EFS plant following the commissioning of the long product mill during 2011.
According to Ezz Steel's statement, long steel production volumes reached 1.2 million mt in the given quarter, up 17 percent year on year, while its flat steel production volume decreased by three percent year on year to 250,000 mt due to the suspension of flat production at EFS due to weaker global demand and pricing and the concentration of production at that plant on long products.