Russian mining and steelmaking company Evraz Group has announced its operational results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2021.
Accordingly, in the fourth quarter of last year, Evraz’s total crude steel production decreased by 0.6 percent quarter on quarter to 3.38 million mt, mainly due to maintenance outages in November in EVRAZ North America. In the given quarter, the company’s pig iron production was down by 0.6 percent quarter on quarter to 2.70 million mt. In 2021, the company’s total crude steel production fell by 0.4 percent to 13.57 million mt, while its pig iron production decreased by three percent to 10.82 million mt, both year on year. The company’s crude steel production in the whole year decreased as production volumes fell after Russia introduced an export duty.
In the fourth quarter, the company’s output of raw coking coal increased by 34.4 percent quarter on quarter to 6.69 million mt, mainly due to the completion of longwall movements at the Raspadskaya, Osinnikovskaya and Yerunakovskaya-VIII mines. In the full year, Evraz’s output of raw coking coal totaled 23.27 million mt, increasing by 12.7 percent year on year. The main driver of the increase was the resumption of work at Razrez Raspadsky, which had halted operations from May to September 2020 amid poor market conditions.
Meanwhile, the company’s production of iron ore products in the fourth quarter amounted to 3.75 million mt, up by seven percent quarter on quarter, while in 2021 its production of iron ore products increased by 1.4 percent year on year to 14.39 million mt.
In the fourth quarter, total steel sales of Evraz rose by seven percent quarter on quarter to 3.18 million mt. In particular, sales of semi-finished products in the given quarter declined by 7.2 percent quarter on quarter to 1.35 million mt, while sales of finished products increased by 11.6 percent quarter on quarter to 1.83 million mt. In the full year, total steel sales of Evraz decreased by 4.5 percent year on year to 12.47 million mt. This was partly because of the impact that the export duty introduced in Russia in 2021 had on the output of semi-finished products for export. In particular, sales of semi-finished products in the given year fell by 10.4 percent to 5.54 million mt, while sales of finished products rose by 0.7 percent to 6.93 million mt, both compared to the previous year.
In the fourth quarter, external sales of coking coal products rose by four percent quarter on quarter to 2.56 million mt, while in 2021 external sales of coking coal products decreased by 14.0 percent year on year to 10.6 million mt. Sales of iron ore products in the fourth quarter rose by 58.1 percent quarter on quarter to 479,000 mt, while sales of iron ore products in 2021 fell by 17.4 percent year on year to 1.43 million mt.