Egypt's largest steelmaker Ezz Steel has announced its financial results for the first half of the current year, reporting a net loss of EGP 389 million ($21.72 million), compared to a net loss of EGP 1.07 billion in the first half of 2017. The company's sales revenues in the given period amounted to EGP 25.49 billion ($1.42 billion), rising by 42 percent year on year, largely due to a strong increase in long steel sales.
In the first half, Ezz Steel's sales, in terms of volume, totaled 2.3 million mt, increasing by 11 percent year on year. In the given period, Ezz Steel's long steel production volume amounted to 1.7 million mt, up 13 percent, while its flat steel production volume went down slightly by three percent to 652,000 mt, both year on year.
Paul Chekaiban, chairman and managing director of Ezz Steel, stated that, year on year, the company substantially increased its global turnover through the combined effect of higher average selling prices and incremented production and sales volumes. However, in the coming periods, the positive impact of improved performance on its bottom line is expected to be hindered by the growing disturbance in the global steel sector coming from the erratic implementation in most countries of ongoing trade protective measures, Mr. Chekaiban added.