Turkish integrated long steel producer Kardemir Karabuk Demir Celik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (Kardemir) has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the current year, posting a net profit of TRY 235.05 million ($57.12 million), compared to a net loss of TRY 5.6 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Sales revenues of the company increased by 49 percent year on year to TRY 1.28 billion ($313.12 million). The company registered an operating profit of TRY 337.16 million ($81.92 million), compared to an operating profit of TRY 58.76 million in the same quarter of 2017.
In the first quarter this year, Kardemir produced 286,200 mt of metallurgical coke, rising by 0.3 percent year on year, 615,565 mt of crude steel, up 1.3 percent year on year, and 564,477 mt of pig iron compared to 551,359 mt recorded in the first quarter of the previous year.
Kardemir's rebar output in the January-March period decreased by two percent to 165,749 mt, while its rail product output totaled 24,252 mt, down 30 percent, both compared to the corresponding quarter of 2017. During the first quarter this year, Kardemir produced 78,024 mt of steel sections, falling by 8.8 percent year on year.
Omer Faruk Oz, Kardemir’s CEO, stated that the company continues it works on producing high value-added steel products which are used in industries like automotive, defense, white appliances, furniture and manufacturing, and which are mostly dependant on imports.
Meanwhile, Kardemir expects to achieve a finished steel production volume of 3.5 million mt by the end of 2019, thanks to the ongoing complementary investments at its steel plant and new continuous casting plant which is to be built.