Germany-based steelmaker Salzgitter Group has announced a pre-tax loss of €194.4 million for 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The company had reported a pre-tax loss of €253.3 million in 2019.
Salzgitter stated that its sales revenues amounted to €7.1 billion in the 2020, decreasing from €8.5 billion in the previous year, due to decreased volumes and selling prices.
In 2020, the company produced 6.03 million mt of crude steel, down by 8.7 percent compared to 2019.
“Despite the huge challenges, we were able to sustain our company’s liquidity, continue our work on the two strategically important major projects - the third hot dip galvanizing in Salzgitter and the new heat treatment line in Ilsenburg - and push ahead with our decarbonization offensive through implementing the “Wind Hydrogen Salzgitter”, “Green Industrial Hydrogen 2.0” and “Green Strip Steel” projects. The financial year 2020 was therefore not a lost year for the Salzgitter Group. Quite the opposite! For us it is a source of confidence and assurance of being able to master the tasks that lie ahead,” Heinz Jörg Fuhrmann, CEO of the company, said.
As for 2021, the company expects a sales revenue of €8.5 billion and a pre-tax profit of between €150 million and €200 million.