Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced its production and sales data for the third quarter and for the first nine months of the current year. According to the company’s statement, NLMK's crude steel output in the third quarter decreased to 4.04 million mt, down four percent compared to the previous quarter primarily because of planned repairs of a blast furnace at the Lipetsk site. In the January-September period, the company’s crude steel production increased by two percent year on year to 12.27 million mt.
In the third quarter, NLMK Group's total steel product sales increased by seven percent to 4.22 million mt, driven mainly by higher sales of finished long products and semi-finished products, while semi-finished product sales rose by six percent, both compared to the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of the current year, total steel product sales rose by two percent year on year to 12.29 million mt, as flat steel sales in the Russian and international markets grew to 6.27 million mt, rising by five percent compared to the same period of 2015.
In the given quarter, domestic sales totaled 2.74 million mt, up five percent quarter on quarter and accounting for 66 percent of total sales, while the company’s external sales totaled 1.44 million mt, up 12 percent quarter on quarter and accounting for 34 percent of total sales.