Mechel, one of the leading Russian mining and steel groups, has announced its production and sales results for the second quarter and the first half of the current year.
Accordingly, in the second quarter this year, Mechel produced 811,000 mt of crude steel, six percent lower compared to the first quarter, while its pig iron production decreased by 9.9 percent quarter on quarter to 693,000 mt. The company’s production of run-of-mine coal totaled 1.53 million mt, down 28.3 percent quarter on quarter. Meanwhile, in the first half, the company produced 1.67 million mt of crude steel, up by 1.8 percent year on year, while its pig iron production decreased 2.1 percent year on year to 1.46 million mt. The company’s production of run-of-mine coal in the first half totaled 3.66 million mt, down 27.9 percent year on year.
Mechel explained the quarter-on-quarter reduction in pig iron and crude steel production by citing the planned repairs at the continuous casting machine No. 1 of the Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant and in the rolling section of the Izhevsk Steel Plant.
In the second quarter of the current year, Mechel’s coking coal concentrate sales decreased by 40.4 percent quarter on quarter to 633,000 mt, with sales to third parties going down by 65.6 percent quarter on quarter to 268,000 mt during the given period. In the first half, the company’s coking coal concentrate sales went down by 15.1 percent year on year to 1.69 million mt, with sales to third parties decreasing by 27.6 percent year on year to 1.05 million mt during the given period.
In the second quarter of the current year, the company’s shipments of iron ore concentrate rose by 66.9 percent quarter on quarter to 521,000 mt. The company’s shipments of iron ore concentrate in the first six months increased by 51.5 percent year on year to 832,000 mt.
The company’s sales of coke went down by 15.3 percent quarter on quarter to 408,000 mt in the second quarter of the current year, while in the first six months this year Mechel’s sales of coke decreased by 7.4 percent year on year to 890,000 mt. Meanwhile, the company’s sales of ferrosilicon in the second quarter of the current year totaled 18,000 mt.
In the first half, the company’s total sales of long steel products decreased by 6.4 percent year on year to 1.14 million mt and sales of flat steel products totaled 84,000 mt, down 36.4 percent year on year.