Turkey-based MMK Metalurji sees fall in Q3 crude steel output from Q2 level

Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that its Turkey-based subsidiary MMK Metalurji registered a 40 percent quarter-on-quarter drop in its crude steel production in the third quarter of this year, with the output declining to 170,000 mt, while its crude steel output in the first nine months of the current year amounted to 752,000 mt.
 
In the third quarter of this year, the cold rolled flat product output of MMK Metalurji totaled 49,000 mt, declining by 61 percent from the previous quarter, while its galvanized steel production amounted to 60,000 mt, down 26 percent quarter on quarter, due to an increase in the production of higher margin color-coated steel. The steelmaker's color coated steel production amounted to 101,000 mt, up by 28 percent quarter on quarter, as a result of the seasonal resurgence of the construction industry as well as the implementation of a program to bring the Turkish asset to a profitable level through the production of high value-added products.
 
In January-September, MMK Metalurji produced 217,000 mt of galvanized steel, up 89 percent compared to the same period of 2011, while the company's color coated steel production increased by 2.9 times year on year to 238,000 mt.
 
MMK has said that its finished product sales from its operations in Turkey in the third quarter amounted to 211,000 mt, which is down 26 percent from the second quarter. The decrease largely stemmed from the lower output of commercial hot rolled products, the production of which is not economically sustainable in current market conditions.