25th Oct 2018 10:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Evraz PLC on Thursday reported mixed production results for the third quarter, but said it expects improvements in the final quarter of 2018 as it finalises maintenance and repairs at its plants in Russia.
The steelmaker said crude steel output fell by 10% in the three months to the end of September to 3.1 million tonnes from 3.5 million tonnes produced in the second quarter of 2018.
The result was hurt by lower pig iron production, which declined 11% quarter-on-quarter to 2.4 million tonnes from 2.7 million tonnes.
Sales of finished products remained flat during the period at 1.9 million tonnes.
Production of raw coking coal improved by 9.6% in the third quarter to 5.9 million from 5.4 million, due to increased productivity at the Raspadskyi open-pit mine in Mezhdurechensk, Russia.
Meanwhile, coking coal production was unchanged at 3.9 million tonnes. However, raw and coking coal product sales both dropped by 8.3% quarter-on-quarter, due to logistical limitations amid maintenance works at railroads in Russia.
During the second quarter, Evraz said it produced 3.3 million tonnes of iron ore, down 3.8% from 3.4 million produced the quarter prior while sales of this products fell by 16% to 427,000 tonnes from 508,000 tonnes sold in the second quarter.
Looking ahead, the company said it expects raw coal production to increase in the fourth quarter, driven by the launch of a new longwall in September at the Raspadskaya mine.
The crude steel output is expected to be flat quarter-on-quarter due to planned plant maintenance, while production of pig iron is anticipated to grow between 3% and 5% following a completion of scheduled repairs at Evraz's consolidated West-Siberian metallurgical plant.
Evraz shares were trading 4.0% higher on Thursday at 542.00 pence each.
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