The Russian steel producing and mining company Evraz Group (Evraz) has announced that in 2010 it increased its crude steel output by 6.6 percent year on year to 16.3 million mt, while its pig iron production went up by six percent year on year to 11.92 million mt.
Specifically, in 2010, Evraz's Russian crude steel output increased by six percent year on year to 11.95 million mt, while its Ukrainian crude steel production went down by 9.3 percent year on year to 884,000 mt. Meanwhile, Evraz's North American crude steel production in 2010 increased by 25.2 percent to 2.32 million mt, its South African crude steel output increased by 12 percent to 783,000 mt, while its European crude steel production dropped by 26.5 percent to 354,000 mt, mainly due to the closure of steel production at its Czech subsidiary Evraz Vitkovice Steel from July to mid-November.
Evraz's finished steel product output up by 15-35 percent in 2010
In 2010, Evraz's rolled steel product output went up by 2.7 percent to about 14.67 million mt, including 4.94 million mt of construction steel products - up 15.3 percent, and 2.53 million mt of flat rolled steel products - up 23.6 percent, all compared to 2009. Generally, in 2010, Evraz's output of finished steel products increased by 15-35 percent year on year depending on product category, reflecting demand recovery across the key markets. As the Russian steel mills fully utilized their capacities in 2010, the growing demand for finished steel products was accompanied by a decline of 28.4 percent year on year in Evraz's saleable semi-finished steel volume to 3.74 million mt.
In Q4 2010, production of steel and major rolled products recovered following the completion of scheduled maintenance at Evraz's Russian steel mills in Q3.
Despite positive pricing and production trends, Evraz said that its Q4 2010 EBITDA guidance remains unchanged (at $550-600 million) since the Q3 trading update due to an increase in certain cost items, both seasonal (energy), and non-seasonal (staff costs, rising costs of raw materials).