16th Jul 2014 08:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Evraz PLC Wednesday said its crude steel production rates in the second quarter were down when compared to the previous year but saw increases compared to its previous quarter, mainly due to improvements at its Russian and South African operations.
The Russian steel maker said its crude steel production fell 4.2% to 3.9 million tonnes for the three months ended June 30 compared to the previous year but increased 1.1% on the previous quarter.
The company said its crude steel production saw improvements at its Russian operations due to lower downtime for maintenance works at blast furnaces and converters at Russian steel mills. It added that crude steel production increased at its South African operations following a major repair of a furnace.
However, the company said its crude steel production fell in its Ukraine and North America operations due partly to scheduled maintenance works.
Evraz said its pig iron production increased 0.8% to 3.1 million tonnes compared to the previous year and increased 4.7% on the previous quarter mainly due to strong increases at its South Africa operations.
The company also said its consolidated raw coking coal output and production of coking coal concentrate increased by 6.6% and 3%, respectively, quarter on quarter due to strong production from its Raspadskaya site in Russia.
Evraz said that second quarter production of iron ore products in Russia grew 3% against the previous quarter mainly due to increased production from its ore mining and processing enterprise Evraz KGOK and more sinter produced at its West Siberian Metallurgical Plant from third-party ores.
Sinter plants agglomerate iron ore dust at high temperature to create a product that can be used in a blast furnace. The final product, a sinter, is a small, irregular nodule of iron mixed with small amounts of other minerals.
The company added that the average price it received for most of its steel products in Russia recovered on the back of improved demand from the market, but average prices for Russian-produced iron ore products and coking coal concentrate softened in line with global benchmark prices.
Evraz shares were up 1.6% to 99.70 pence on Wednesday.
By Tom McIvor; [email protected]; @TomMcIvor1
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