The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has issued 2008 production and sales results for itself and its subsidiaries.
Accordingly, in 2008 NLMK produced 8.408 million mt of pig iron - down 7.2 percent, 8.514 million mt of crude steel - down six percent, 3.612 million mt of slabs - down three percent, 1.719 million mt of hot rolled products - down 12 percent, 1.494 million mt of cold rolled products - up 2.8 percent, 450,000 mt of HDG - down 5.1 percent, 357,000 mt of pre-painted steel - up 3.9 percent, 318,000 mt of dynamo steel - down 15.3 percent, and 164,000 mt of transformer steel - up 17.8 percent, all compared to 2007.
In 2008, NLMK sold 636,000 mt of pig iron - down 25.5 percent, 3.511 million mt of slabs - down 3.9 percent, 1.593 million mt of hot rolled products - down 15.1 percent, 1.431 million mt of cold rolled products - down 0.9 percent, 423,000 mt of HDG - down 4.5 percent, 340,000 mt of pre-painted steel - up four percent, 315,000 mt of dynamo steel - down 16.5 percent, and 160,000 mt of transformer steel - up 11.3 percent, all compared to the data of 2007.
During the period in question, NLMK's Danish subsidiary DanSteel A/S saw an increase in its heavy plate sales by 1.6 percent year on year to 504,000 metric tons.
VIZ-Stal registered a 2.5 percent decrease in its transformer steel sales and a 59.5 percent drop in its dynamo steel sales year on year to 183,000 mt and to 8,000 mt respectively in 2008.
NLMK's iron ore subsidiary Stoilensky GOK in 2008 showed an 8.5 percent decrease in its iron ore concentrate sales and a 26.4 percent drop in its sinter ore sales year on year. The respective figures in metric tons were 10.592 million and 1.299 million.
During the period in question, Altai-koks sold 3.294 million metric tons of coke (dry), showing a 7.3 percent year on year decrease.
In 2008, Maxi-Group's sales of billets decreased by 36 percent, its sales of rebar increased by 50.8 percent and its scrap sales (including sales within Maxi-Group) went up by 21.7 percent year on year. The respective figures in metric tons were 539,000, 972,000, and 2.673 million. The company sold 203,000 mt of wire rod during the period in question.
Lower production volumes in 2008 for most of the product range were primarily attributable to a decrease in NLMK's orders in Q3 and Q4 2008 followed by a slump in Q4 2008 sales. Nevertheless, due to a strong financial performance during the first nine months of 2008, NLMK expects its FY 2008 revenue to reach $11.6 billion and EBITDA to be arround $4.7-4.8 billion.
According to the release, in early 2009 NLMK is facing further deterioration in the pricing environment in its key markets, and, despite decreasing production costs for its main products, this may adversely impact the company's H1 2009 financial results.