In a conference call to reporters on Thursday, Severstal North America's recently-appointed CEO, Saikat Dey, said the company will start to focus on improving returns rather than major acquisitions and other expensive projects.
While the company's facilities are running at near capacity to satisfy growing demand for flat-rolled steel in the US automotive market, there is still too much availability in the global market and prices are weak.
"At this point, whether we like it or not, that 300-400 million tons of overhang is not going anywhere and, until that goes somewhere, fundamentally speaking, you have got an issue," Dey said. "Consolidation, rationalization, better behavior of people taking out capacity will bring a better margin environment in the future.