Turkish rebar producer Izmir Demir Çelik Sanayi A.Ş. (IDC) has announced its financial results for the third quarter and the first nine months of the current year, remarking that, with Chinese domestic steel demand declining, Chinese producers have become more aggressive in the export markets and, supported by continuously falling iron ore prices, have started to invade the regions where Turkish producers were dominant. The protectionist measures applied throughout the year also continued in the third quarter and have put more pressure on the Turkish steel industry already dealing with overflowing exports from China. In the last three months of the year, IDC does not foresee a significant recovery in demand with the holiday season and the approaching winter, while steel product prices are expected to see a stable trend depending on demand.
In the third quarter, IDC registered a net loss of TRY 44 million ($19.8 million), compared to a net loss of TRY 36.6 million in the same quarter of 2013. The company's sales revenues increased by 15.6 percent year on year to TRY 490.4 million ($220.6 million). In the given quarter, IDC recorded an operating profit of TRY 14.4 million ($6.5 million), significantly rising from TRY 3 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
During the first nine months, IDC reported a net loss of TRY 5.7 million ($2.6 million), narrowing down from TRY 84.5 million in the corresponding period of 2013, while the company's sales revenues amounted to TRY 1.6 billion ($719.9 million), up 28.8 percent year on year. IDC's operating profit was TRY 47.2 million ($21.2 million), compared to an operating loss of TRY 30.9 million in the first nine months of the previous year.
IDC said that in the January-September period its steel billet output decreased by 15 percent to 908,659 mt, while its rebar production amounted to 605,585 mt, falling 17 percent, both year on year. Besides, 254,445 mt of rebar was also produced by the company's contractual partners in the given period, with an annual growth of six percent. During the same period, the company produced 162,899 mt of steel sections at its medium section mill, up 82 percent year on year.
Additionally, earlier this month, IDC announced a reduction in shifts at its medium section mill as of November 4, which is expected to result in a five percent decrease in monthly production and sales volumes.