The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced its production and sales data for the third quarter of the current year. According to the company statement, NLMK's crude steel output in the third quarter decreased to 3.768 million mt, down 1.9 percent compared to the previous quarter, while production of finished steel decreased by six percent quarter on quarter to 3.794 million mt.
In the first nine months of 2012, NLMK Group produced 11.2 million mt of steel, up 24 percent year on year. Around 95 percent of all steel was produced domestically.
The total sales volume of finished products of NLMK Group in the third quarter was 3.826 million mt, up 0.2 percent quarter on quarter, including 977,000 mt of slabs, 2.185 million mt of flat steel, 457,000 mt of long products and metalware. NLMK's finished product sales in the domestic market increased to 1.283 million mt in the third quarter, up five percent quarter on quarter, capitalizing on demand from its key consumers, i.e., the Russian construction and machine-building sectors.
In Q4, the company's steel production is expected to remain unchanged at 3.8 million mt. NLMK Group confirms its previously announced steel production forecast for the whole of 2012 at 15 million mt.