Russian steelmaker Severstal has announced its operational results for the second quarter and the first half of the current year.
Accordingly, in the second quarter, the company’s crude steel output totaled 2.95 million mt, up by nine percent quarter on quarter, thanks to the increase in BOF steel production, while its pig iron production in the given period totaled 2.92 million mt, rising by seven percent compared to the first quarter this year after the completion of scheduled repair works at its blast furnaces. In the meantime, in the first half of this year crude steel and pig iron outputs amounted to 5.65 million mt and 5.64 million mt, respectively, both moving up by six percent year on year.
In the given quarter, Severstal’s steel sales totaled 2.70 million mt, declining by two percent quarter on quarter, while its sales of semi-finished products fell by six percent to 281,000 mt compared to the previous quarter. In addition, in the first half of the year, the company’s steel sales amounted to 5.47 million mt, increasing by nine percent year on year, while sales of semi-finished products were down by 10.0 percent compared to the same period of last year to 580,000 mt.
“The second quarter of this year was rather difficult for the global markets. Prices of steel and raw materials declined. The fall began in March on the back of lower demand for steel in China. China’s steel production rose throughout much of the first quarter. At the same time, the growth in demand for steel from end-users was not as high as expected at the beginning of the year. China significantly increased its steel exports. Steel exports from China in May reached a record level since 2016 (98 million mt in annual terms), which put pressure on steel quotations in many regions of the world. Prices stabilized only in June, reaching $545/mt FOB China. We do not observe such price volatility in the Russian market,” Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, stated.