Outokumpu expects no major market improvements for rest of 2013

Finland-based stainless steel producer Outokumpu has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2013, stating that it expects no major improvement in the market demand for the rest of the year and that overall visibility continues to be weak. The company estimates sequentially lower delivery volumes, some improvement in base prices, and a similar product mix as in the third quarter.
 
According to its financial results, in the third quarter Outokumpu's net loss amounted to €239 million, down from a net loss of €250 million in the previous quarter. In the third quarter, Outokumpu recorded an operating loss of €142 million, compared to an operating loss of €160 million in the third quarter last year. The group's sales during the third quarter of the current year decreased by 6.8 percent year on year to €1.92 billion.
                     
Outokumpu's stainless steel deliveries in the third quarter decreased by 1.4 percent to 647,000 mt compared to the third quarter of the previous year. In the first nine months of the current year, the stainless steel deliveries of the company amounted to 2 million mt, down by 6.3 percent year on year.
 
According to Outokumpu, during the third quarter global stainless steel demand decreased by 6.2 percent quarter on quarter. While all the markets were down, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) were the hardest hit in the third quarter with an overall quarter-on-quarter decline of 19.1 percent. In the given quarter, the European stainless steel base price was down by 6.8 percent and the average nickel price declined by 7.1 percent. During the first nine months, stainless steel demand in the EMEA region declined to 5.2 million mt from 5.3 million mt in the same period of 2012.