Despite the challenging market environment, in the second quarter this year Russian mining and steelmaking company Evraz Group managed to increase its steel products sales, with a focus on semi-finished steel. Meanwhile, the company's crude steel production declined in the given period.
Accordingly, in the April-June period this year, Evraz's crude steel production declined by 5.1 percent quarter on quarter to 3.377 million mt, mainly due to capital maintenance works and a gas pause at EVRAZ ZSMK in June as well as capital repairs at EVRAZ NTMK in May.
In the second quarter, the company’s output of raw coking coal decreased by 26.8 percent quarter on quarter to 54.165 million mt, caused by weaker demand for coal in the global market. Additionally, production at the Razrez Raspadsky open pit and at Mezhegeyugol has been suspended until favourable market conditions are restored. The decline was also due to the move of the longwall at the Alardinskaya mine.
Meanwhile, in the given period, steel sales of Evraz rose by 4.9 percent compared to the previous quarter to 3.382 million mt, with 1.724 million mt of semi-finished steel sales and 1.658 million mt of finished steel products. Sales of semi-finished steel products increased by 19.5 percent quarter on quarter following the changes in the product mix in favour of slabs and billets as a result of the decline in demand for finished steel products in the given period. Meanwhile, sales of finished products fell by 6.9 percent quarter on quarter amid weak demand in Russia and North America, as well as due to lower production volumes in Russia following scheduled capital repairs.
In the second quarter this year, external sales of coking coal products dropped by 14.6 percent quarter on quarter to 2.8 million mt. Meanwhile, sales of iron ore products surged by 25.6 percent quarter on quarter to 446,000 mt, amid higher shipments to the domestic market.