Steel Mills
NLMK USA Sales Surge on Construction and Pipe Demand
Written by Sandy Williams
April 27, 2017
NLMK USA sales jumped 33 percent from fourth to first quarter on stronger demand from construction and pipe manufacturers. Sales volume totaled 562,000 tonnes. Sales revenue was $399 million, which included $186 million for HRC, $109 million for CRC, $96 million for HDG, and $1 million for slabs. Profit for first quarter was $54 million compared to a loss of $12 million in Q1 2016.
NLMK noted during the earnings call that first quarter prices in home markets in the United States, Europe and Russia were showing premium in the merchant market. In particular, the Russian market premium was $70-80 dollars vs. export FOB Europe over $100 premium and U.S. over $200.
When asked about operations in NLMK’s foreign divisions, the executives said there was further room for improvements in terms of operational efficiency. “We’ve done a good job in making foreign assets more competitive from where they were before. All the divisions are profitable, all our plants except one outside of Russia are profitable. In the U.S., particularly, there is room for productivity improvements. There is some slack in available capacity which can and should be used in today’s pricing environment. Currently we are at 80-90 percent of capacity so there is some headroom there which we should be able to utilize.”
NLMK Group revenue grew 10 percent q/q to $2.15 billion on sales of 3.6 million tonnes. Net profit for the period was $323 million. Sales grew in the U.S. and EU while seasonal weakness was experienced in Russia.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Mills
Nucor names Batterbee, Bledsoe to HR roles
Nucor Corp. has promoted Thomas J. Batterbee to the position EVP of human resources and talent and appointed Elizabeth Bledsoe to the newly created position of president of human resources and talent.
Millett sees tariffs, CORE case benefiting SDI
Steel Dynamics' top exec thinks Trump’s tariff policies, as well as the results from the recent CORE case, will prove advantageous to the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and aluminum company.
USW digs in on opposition to USS-Nippon deal
“We remain deeply concerned about the national and economic security implications of the subject transaction,” the union stated in the letter dated April 21.
SDI’s Q1 earnings slump on-year, but up sequentially
SDI earnings slip in first quarter year over year, but are up sequentially.
POSCO inks MoU with Hyundai on Louisiana EAF mill
POSCO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyundai Motor Group that includes an equity investment in Hyundai’s previously announced EAF mill set to be built in Louisiana.