Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that its Turkey-based subsidiary MMK Metalurji's finished steel output increased by 17.1 percent year on year to 175,000 mt in the first quarter, due to the political situation's strong influence on company sales in early 2014, when traders postponed order placement ahead of the election results.
In the same quarter, polymer-coated flat products sales decreased by 16.2 percent compared to the previous quarter due to the reorientation of clients by the sales department to supplies of galvanized products as a higher-margin product in the current environment. Sales of galvanized products in the first quarter grew 12,000 mt quarter on quarter to 101,000 mt.
According to MMK, the increase in consumption of MMK produced hot rolled coils in the first quarter of the current year by over twofold compared to the previous quarter was due to the current market environment, in which ruble devaluation significantly improved the competitiveness of Russian-produced steel and made supplies of hot rolled products from Russia more attractive in terms of cost.