The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced that in 2010 its US-based subsidiary NLMK Indiana saw a drastic improvement in operating performance against 2009 when the market was under significant pressure from unstable demand and high levels of steel product inventory in the US.
Accordingly, in 2010 NLMK Indiana's crude steel and rolled steel product output increased by 42 and 51 percent year on year respectively, on the back of recovering demand from the tube industry and service centers. NLMK's hot rolled steel product sales in 2010 were up 53 percent to 562,000 mt, while its slab sales increased by 77 percent to 43,000 mt, both compared to 2009.
In Q4 2010, repair activities resulted in lower quarter‐on‐quarter hot rolled steel production and sales volumes at NLMK Indiana. Specifically, NLMK Indiana's Q4 sales of hot rolled product decreased by 25 percent quarter on quarter to 113,000 mt, while its slab sales increased by 61 percent quarter on quarter to 11,000 mt due to larger deliveries to Duferco Farrell (JV with Duferco).
NLMK said that overall conditions in the US flat steel market improved, driving prices for rolled steel up at the end of 2010, and that this trend persisted in the beginning of 2011.
Located in Portage, Indiana, NLMK Indiana is a steel mini-mill specialized in the production and sale of hot rolled coils in north central US and Canada.