The Chilean iron ore and steel producer Grupo CAP has posted a net loss of $38.27 million for the first quarter 2024, against a net profit of $23.91 million in the same quarter of 2023.
Under the same comparative basis, net sales declined by 26.3 percent to $512.55 million, the gross profit declined by 83.9 percent to $24.42 million, ultimately resulting in an operational loss of $13.95 million, against an operational profit of $109.17 million in the first quarter of 2023.
In volume, iron ore production increased by 2.0 percent to 4.2 million mt, the steel production at the Huachipato steel plant declined by 10.6 percent to 146,533 mt, while the processing of steel products in the steel solutions division declined by 24.4 percent to 52,875 mt.
According to the company, the net loss derives from the poor performance of the steel production area of the company, reflecting chiefly lower steel prices.
The EBITDA of the steel production area was negative at $72.49 million, while for the other areas it was positive: for the mining area it was $101.23 million, while for the processing of steel products area it was $5.08 million.
The company has positive expectations for the steel area of the group for the rest of the year, an optimism derived from the implementation by the local authorities of higher import tariffs for steel products, which is expected to have a positive impact on the domestic prices.