Global steelmaking and mining giant Evraz Group S.A. reported Friday that for its North American division, flat-rolled production rose 14 percent in Q2 2011 from the previous quarter and jumped 32 percent year-on-year on higher end-user demand for commodity plate. Evraz also said that "the service center industry is increasing inventories to historical levels and fabricators operating in the wind tower, tank, and transmission line businesses have higher demand."
North American rail production in Q2 was up 11 percent over Q1 2011, and rose 36 percent compared to the same quarter in 2010. Production of tubular goods increased 10 percent from Q1 to Q2 2011 and remained nearly the same level as a year earlier. Construction product output, mainly of rods and bars, fell 14 percent in Q2 2011 from the previous quarter and was down 27 percent year-on-year.
Average North American steel selling prices in Q2 2011 were significantly higher both from the previous quarter and the comparable quarter last year: construction products averaged $927/mt ($836/mt in Q1 2011 and $806/mt in Q2 2010); railway products averaged $1,012/mt in Q2 ($1,021 in Q1 2011 and $977 in Q2 2010); flat-rolled prices averaged $1,203/mt ($1,035/mt in Q1 2011 and $934/mt in Q2 2010); tubular products averaged $1,460/mt ($1,448/mt in Q1 2011 and $1,392/mt in Q2 2010).
In total, including Evraz's operations in Ukraine, Russia and South Africa, the production of finished goods increased on average of 9 percent and 4 percent compared to Q2 2010 and to Q1 2011, respectively, while the volumes of semi-finished products decreased by 19 percent.
Regarding raw materials, pig iron production, located in South Africa, fell 18 percent from Q1 2011, and total global iron ore production rose 9 percent compared to Q1 2011. Coking coal production fell 5 percent against Q1 2011.