Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced its operational results for the third quarter of the current year. Accordingly, Severstal's crude steel production in the third quarter decreased by one percent to 3.03 million mt compared to the previous quarter, due to a decline in EAF steel output following the sale of Balakovo mill in July 2019. Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, Severstal’s crude steel production remained almost stable at 9.13 million mt year on year, reflecting higher productivity levels.
In the third quarter, Severstal's total consolidated steel product sales remained stable quarter on quarter at 2.83 million mt. The share of domestic sales increased to historically high levels of 67 percent. In the January-September period of this year, the company’s total consolidated steel product sales increased by one percent to 8.5 million mt year on year.
In the first nine months of the year, Severstal's Russian Steel division’s steel product sales increased by one percent to 8.54 million mt compared with the same period of the previous year. Semi-finished product sales decreased by 48 percent year on year to 279,000 mt. The share of high value added products remained high at 45 percent in the same period, reflecting higher sales of galvanized and color-coated products following the launch of new product lines, which reached their full utilization rates in the first quarter or 2019.
In the January-September period of this year, Severstal's iron ore pellet sales rose by two percent to 8.2 million mt, while its iron ore concentrate sales volumes rose by 14 percent to 4.66 million mt reflecting production volumes growth at Karelsky Okatysh, both on year-on-year basis. Total coal sales volumes of the company increased by 30 percent year on year to 4.26 million mt.