Basque region,
Spain-based seamless stainless steel
pipe producer Tubacex has announced its financial results for the first quarter this year. The company registered a net profit of €5.6 million in the given quarter, up 59.8 percent year on year, while its sales revenues amounted to €140.32 million, falling 3.6 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, as a result of the fall in raw material prices, especially nickel, leading to a decrease in the alloy surcharge applied to tube prices.
Tubacex CEO Jesús Esmorís pointed out that the improvement in performance and margins during the first quarter were achieved in a still unfavorable market environment, where "weak signs of economic recovery are starting to appear" and in which "maintaining low commodity prices has resulted in continuous signs of weakness in the distribution market demand". However, he added that "during these past weeks this trend has changed and the prices of raw materials have started to improve".