Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that in the first quarter this year the sales revenues of its Turkey-based subsidiary MMK Metalurji totaled $150 million, slightly higher than the preceding quarter, despite smaller sales volumes.
According to MMK’s statement, despite ongoing political instability in Turkey ahead of the referendum, the domestic market broadly followed international pricing trends. In the given quarter, MMK Metalurji registered an EBITDA of $11 million, up 37.5 percent compared to the previous quarter. Another important factor supporting the company’s EBITDA was the increase in export sales volumes compared to the average export sales in 2016 (chiefly to Europe and the US). This increase is related to the positive pricing environment and substitution of imports from China with supplies from Turkey after import duties against Chinese steel were imposed in the EU.