Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has released its operational results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2017.
Accordingly, in the fourth quarter, the company recorded a 0.9 percent decline in its crude steel output to 3.29 million mt and a 12.5 percent decrease in its finished steel product shipments to 2.82 million mt, both compared to the previous quarter. In the same quarter, MMK’s high value-added steel product sales amounted to 1.26 million mt, down 13.8 percent from the third quarter, while the share of the high value-added products in total output amounted to 44.7 percent.
Meanwhile, in 2017, MMK's crude steel production amounted to 12.86 million mt, up 2.5 percent, while the company’s finished steel product shipments increased by 1.4 percent to 11.61 million mt, both year on year. In addition, MMK’s high value-added steel product sales in 2017 totaled 5.27 million mt, rising by 2.3 percent year on year and the share of the high value-added products in total output in the same year increased to 45.4 percent from 45 percent recorded in 2016.
MMK stated that it expects that seasonality and scheduled maintenance of equipment will affect the results of the first quarter of the current year. At the same time, this factor is expected to be balanced by higher sales prices for finished products in the company’s domestic and export markets.