Ezz Steel reports significant decline in net profit for 2012

Egypt's largest steelmaker Ezz Steel has announced its financial results for 2012, reporting a net profit of EGP 8 million ($1.15 million), compared to a net profit of EGP 202 million in the previous year. The company's sales revenues amounted to EGP 19.8 million ($2.85 million), increasing by six percent year on year.
 
According to Ezz Steel's statement, long and flat product prices both fell by three percent year on year in the local market, while flat steel export prices fell by seven percent, reflecting the broader weakness in international steel markets.
 
During 2012, Ezz Steel's sales, in terms of volume, reached 4.8 million mt, up two percent compared to 2011. In the same period, Ezz Steel's long steel production volume amounted to 3.9 million mt, increasing eight percent year on year, while its flat steel production volume decreased by 11 percent year on year to 893,000 mt due to the suspension of flat production at Ezz Flat Steel (EFS) due to weaker global demand and pricing and the concentration of production at that plant on long products.
 
Ezz Steel indicated that the "outstanding operational performance" in sales and production volumes enabled the company to maintain positive earnings during the year, despite the continued slowdown in the Egyptian economy and the ongoing weakness of global steel markets.