Duisburg, Germany-based steel and metal distribution company, Klöckner & Co., has reported a net loss of €90 million for 2013, compared to the net loss of €203 million in the previous year. Klöckner's sales revenue decreased by 13.7 percent year on year to €6.4 billion, due to lower price levels, most of all in the first half of the year.
In the Europe segment, turnover went down by 12.5 percent in 2013 due to the overall weak market as well as location closures as part of the company's restructuring program, while turnover declined in the Americas segment by 3.7 percent during 2013, mainly due to a weaker than expected market environment and stronger focus on higher margin business. The decrease in turnover in the US was 2.9 percent.
For the first quarter of the current year, Klöckner expects EBITDA of €40-50 million.
According to Klöckner, European steel demand has now bottomed out and will grow again by 1-2 percent in the current year. In the US, strong demand from the automotive sector and increasingly from the construction sector combined with lower energy costs and the resulting return of energy-intensive industries should drive a 3-4 percent rise in steel demand.