Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB has posted its financial results for the first quarter of this year, reporting a net profit of SEK 350 million ($40.5 million), compared to a net loss of SEK 135 million in the first quarter of the previous year. The company's sales amounted to SEK 15.46 billion ($1.8 billion) in the given quarter, increasing by 62.4 percent year on year.
During the first quarter, SSAB's crude steel output increased by 50 percent, while finished steel production was up 44 percent, both year on year. Its shipments in the given period increased by 45 percent to 1.71 million mt compared to the previous year.
According to SSAB, in the Nordic region and the rest of western Europe, demand for standard steel normalized compared with the decrease in demand seen towards the end of 2014. Demand for special steel remained stable, albeit at a low level and with major geographical variations. In North America, the steel market was relatively weak during the first quarter. This was driven by high inventory levels at distributors and continued high volumes of imports from Asia and Europe. Overall, this put pressure on prices in the North American market. SSAB said that the costs of raw materials, primarily iron ore for the Swedish and Finnish mills, continued to fall during the quarter.
The company stated that in June this year a relining of the blast furnace in Luleå will commence which will continue throughout July and most of August. The cost is estimated to be in the range of SEK 150-200 million ($17.4-23.2 million). To ensure continued steel shipments during the relining, the smaller blast furnace in Oxelösund was brought back into use during the first quarter and will continue production during the second quarter.